The Long Walk Home
by peski0piksi
Summary: After a traumatizing event, Katniss finds herself having to rely on a new friend. AU-Set in the world of Panem as we know it from the books, but the Hunger Games don't exist. Rated T for some violence and harsh language, especially in the first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: The following chapter contains a fairly graphic scene portraying attempted rape. If you'd rather not read, you can skip ahead to chapter two and still get the gist of what happened, and the rest of the story is pretty tame.**

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"I'm heading out, Sae!" Katniss called as she hung her apron on the hook and grabbed her sweater and book bag.

"Girl, don't you have a better coat than that? It's cold out there!" the older woman answered as she wiped down the lunch counter.

"I know," Katniss answered. "I didn't realize this cold snap was going to hit today. I'll wear something warmer tomorrow. Goodnight, Thom!"

"'Night, Katniss!" Thom called from the kitchen. "Be careful going home!"

"I will. Goodnight, Sae."

"Goodnight."

And with that Katniss went out the door of Greasy Sae's Diner into the dark streets of District Twelve. It was early October, and the region had been enjoying a late Indian Summer until earlier this afternoon when the cold winds of autumn had finally blown in. Katniss wrapped her threadbare sweater tighter around herself and set out on the long walk home.

Her footsteps echoed as she made her way through the empty town square. It was a little after eleven, and most of the District was already asleep. The availability of electricity here was sporadic at best, so most people rose and went to bed with the sun. Katniss saw a few lights here and there as she walked through town—the Peacekeeper's Headquarters was lit up as always, and she saw one dim light burning above the bakery. But for the most part she was in darkness, and she was grateful for the clear sky above that allowed the moonlight to guide her steps home.

_That's Wednesday over with. Two days 'til the weekend._

For just over a year now, Katniss had been working evenings at Greasy Sae's every day after school. It wasn't the most glamorous job, but she was grateful to have it. It was steady work with steady pay, which was more than a lot of her neighbors in the Seam could claim to have. She still liked to hunt on the weekends to supplement her income, but waitressing kept her family fed during the lean months of winter when game was scarce and edible plants few and far between.

Waitressing would keep her out of the mines, too. Sae had already promised her a full-time position in the spring when Katniss left school for good. Waitressing was hard work, but not nearly as hard as working down in the dark mines twelve hours a day would be. That's what her best friend Gale had to endure and she knew he hated every minute of it. Katniss was not sure she would be able to survive if she was forced to spend her life in the darkness—in the same tunnels and shafts that had stolen her father's life years before.

Crossing the line that divided the town from the Seam, Katniss stepped down from the concrete sidewalk onto a dirt path. From this point onwards, the houses she passed grew smaller and shabbier. Here the darkness was complete—no one who lived in the Seam could afford to waste fuel sitting up at night.

She hurried her steps. The sooner she could make it home, the sooner she could go to bed. She was exhausted—it had been a rough night at the diner. Just after the dinner rush, a group of townies had come in, obviously drunk. They had been rowdy, and a few of them had repeatedly made lewd suggestions in her direction. This wasn't anything Katniss wasn't used to, and she had deflected their attentions in her usual brusque manner, but it was still a pain to deal with. That, plus the fact that they had left nothing behind except a huge mess and a lousy tip.

Katniss hesitated when she reached the Meadow, a large field dotted with a few trees and small bushes. She knew she really should stick to the road, but if she cut through here she could be home ten minutes sooner. She thought longingly of her warm bed, and of Prim, who never went to sleep until she knew her big sister was home safe and sound. She could hear a dog barking somewhere in the distance, but other than that all was silence.

She turned and stepped onto the grass.

It seemed colder out in the middle of the field, without the buildings to block the wind from blowing straight through her sweater and up her skirt. Not for the first time, Katniss regretted that her uniform consisted of a simple cotton button-up dress that barely reached to her knees. She made a mental note to wear her heavy stockings tomorrow, but that wasn't much help now.

_Just keep going, Katniss. Get across the Meadow and you're almost home._

To distract herself from the chill, Katniss began to make a mental checklist of tasks she needed to complete over the next few days. Homework to finish, laundry to mend, items to trade for or buy. She was so occupied in her thoughts she didn't even notice she had company until they were almost upon her.

"Well, well…look what we have here, Ryland. It's the Seam Slut of Greasy Sae's!"

Katniss froze.

Two dark figures emerged from the shadows of a tree just ahead. Katniss immediately recognized two of the young men who had been in the diner earlier that evening. They were both holding half-empty bottles and staggering a bit as they walked lazily towards her.

The one who had just spoken was a hulk of a man, tall with broad shoulders and a thick neck. He had been one of the worst troublemakers at the diner, repeatedly making absurd requests of her and making sly jokes full of innuendo at her expense. His name, she thought, was something like Devin or Evan—his face was familiar, and Katniss was pretty sure he had been a couple years ahead of her in school.

The one named Ryland was not as large as his friend, but he still towered over Katniss. She knew nothing about him except that he was a townie, just like Devin or Evan.

They were townies, they were drunk, and they were standing between her and her home.

As the men walked closer, Katniss quickly evaluated her options. She could turn and run, but she had her doubts whether she could outpace them long enough to reach safety. Also, she feared that running would only serve to set off their predatory instincts. Home was ahead, and not that far away. Maybe she could still talk her way through. She was not afraid—if she could fight a full grown bear for the rights to a beehive, she could certainly face down these two drunken idiots. She started walking forward again, longing for her bow.

"Where you going, slut?" Ryland laughed nastily.

"Just heading home, guys. It's been a long night," she said, keeping her tone light.

As she drew nearer to them, she let her right hand fall casually to rest on the bag hanging at her side. Her fingers stretched into the side pocket to feel the knife she always kept hidden there. They would leave her alone if they knew what was good for them.

The two men closed together, blocking her path, and she was forced to stop again.

"Excuse me," she said.

"Why don't you come hang out with us?" said Devin or Evan. "We'll party."

Katniss shook her head and started walking again. "Sorry," she said as she forced her way between them. "It's cold and I'm tired. Maybe some other time."

They let her pass, but when she glanced over her shoulder she saw that they were following her closely.

"Oh, come on," said Ryland. "Come play. We promise we won't bite."

Katniss kept walking quickly, resisting the urge to run.

"Sorry," she said again. "I just want to go home, okay?"

"I don't think she wants to party, Devin," Ryland said in a fake-concerned voice.

"Of course she does," his friend answered, and Katniss could hear the sneer in his voice. "All those Seam sluts like to party. She just doesn't know it yet."

Katniss felt a hand grab her left wrist, and then things started happening very quickly. Acting on pure instinct, she spun around, bringing the knife with her. Devin released her wrist, looking down in amazement at his own forearm. A long, bright red line marked the path of her knife.

"Bitch cut me!" he exclaimed, as if he couldn't believe she had had the nerve to defend herself. Katniss met his eyes and suddenly understood that she had grossly underestimated the danger these men presented to her.

She dropped her bag and turned to run.

She only got about twenty feet before she felt her scalp nearly come off as one of them grabbed her long dark braid, using it to slam her backwards to the ground. Quick as lightning, she was up and running again.

"Get her, Ry!"

This time Ryland tackled her at the knees, and she went flying forward. The impact knocked the knife out of her hand, and she tasted blood. She felt the panic starting to overtake her.

"No!" she screamed as she clawed at the ground, looking for purchase while she desperately tried to shake off Ryland, who was now clinging to her ankles. With great effort she freed one foot and then sent it flying backwards again to connect with his face. She heard a satisfying crunch and suddenly she was free.

She scrambled to her feet and took two lunging steps forward. Then Devin was on her, knocking her to the ground for a third time. He flipped her over to her back, straddled her waist, and slapped her across the face. Katniss answered with a right hook, but it seemed he was so drunk he could feel no pain.

"Stupid bitch!" he spat, as Katniss writhed beneath him, trying to throw him off. Her hands beat uselessly against his body until he grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her arms above her head.

"Think you can say no to me? Think you can just walk away? Think you can _cut_ me and live to tell about it?"

His voice was menacing, but what frightened Katniss the most was the small grin he wore. Dear god, he was _enjoying_ this.

"Please," she whispered.

"Please!" Devin mocked. "Did you hear that, Ry? Someone's decided to try being polite all of a sudden."

Ryland walked up beside them, holding his hands to his face. With satisfaction Katniss saw blood oozing between his fingers.

"Goddamn whore broke my nose!"

Devin looked up at his friend, and Katniss seized the opportunity to stretch her neck up and bite down on the inside of Devin's arm as hard as she could. He screamed with pain and yanked his arms back. With a great heave, Katniss twisted her body and tried to worm her way free. For a second she thought she might make it, but then Devin's giant hands grabbed her shoulders and flipped her back over as if she weighed no more than a rag doll. She clawed at his face, screaming and sobbing in frustration and fear.

He pinned her wrists again and laughed.

"She just doesn't learn, does she, Ry?"

"Doesn't seem to."

"I think maybe I ought to teach her a lesson. What do you think?"

"Sounds about right to me."

"Take her arms."

Katniss sobbed as Ryland moved to kneel at her head, holding her wrists down, and Devin moved back down to straddle her thighs. She had never felt so completely powerless, so completely without control.

"Please," she sobbed. "Please."

"Shut up," said Devin coldly as his eyes roamed up and down her body, his hands moving her sweater off to her sides. Suddenly with one harsh movement he tore open the top of her dress to reveal her bra, sending buttons flying. When Katniss felt the cold air hit her bare skin, she started screaming again.

"Somebody! PLEASE HELP ME! PLEASE!"

Devin slapped her again, silencing her.

"I said shut up."

Ryland snickered.

Then Katniss felt the hem of her skirt being pushed up.

"No, no, no, no. Please stop. Please stop. Please. STOP!"

"I said shut up!"

Devin reached up, grabbed the sides of her head and slammed it back onto the ground.

Katniss' world started to fade. As if she was underwater, she could hear her attacker's voices, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. She could hear her own heart beating loudly in her chest, air rushing in and out of her lungs. Blackness started to creep in on the edges of her vision.

Remotely, she felt something cold on her hip, the sensation of something coming loose, and she understood that he was cutting her panties off with a knife. All she could do was register surprise that he hadn't used the knife before, and to wonder what he would do with it when he was finished. Everything felt so unreal—as if she was watching from a distance as this happened to someone else.

And then, suddenly, the weight of his body on hers was gone. Her hands were free. Katniss rolled onto her side and vomited into the grass.

Dimly, she could hear grunts, feet shuffling on the ground, a cry of pain.

She curled up into a ball and slid gratefully into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Birds chirping. The bleat of Prim's goat, Lady. Dishes clattering in the kitchen.

Morning.

Katniss opened her eyes to discover she was not in her bed as she had expected, but on the couch in her living room. There was a soft pillow under her head, a quilt pulled up to her chin. She squinted against the glare of the sun shining through the windows. Then she made the mistake of raising her head a fraction.

Immediate pain and dizziness, along with a flood of memories from the night before. She groaned and laid her head back down, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Katniss? Mom! Katniss is awake! Katniss, just stay still, okay? You're going to be fine."

Katniss peeked out from behind her eyelids to see Prim sitting up in a chair next to the couch.

"What happened?" she muttered.

"You were attacked coming home last night. But you're safe now."

"No, I mean how did I get here?"

Before Prim could answer, their mother was there hovering over Katniss.

"How do you feel?" she asked anxiously as she pried open Katniss' eyelids to check her pupils.

"Ugh, Mom…stop," Katniss said and turned her head away. "I feel like crap, okay? My head is killing me."

Her mother relented and sat down on the couch next to her.

"That's to be expected," she said. "Your head got a pretty nasty blow. I'll give you something for the pain in a minute."

Katniss felt her mother's hands run anxiously across her forehead and down her arms. Usually she did her best to shun any affection from her mother, but right now she had zero energy to fight it, so instead she just let herself enjoy it.

"Do you remember what happened, honey?" her mother asked gently.

"Most of it, I think," Katniss answered. "I was walking home from Sae's, I decided to cross the Meadow…"

Terrifying images from the night before flashed before her eyes, and Katniss decided she couldn't handle it. Not yet.

"How did I get here?" she asked again, changing the subject.

"Peeta Mellark," Prim answered.

Katniss just stared at her sister, not understanding.

"He brought you here," Prim continued. "Carried you all the way from the Meadow."

"I don't…Peeta Mellark?" Katniss still didn't understand.

"He saved you, Katniss," Prim said softly, and suddenly Katniss thought of two loaves of slightly burnt bread.

"Tell me," she whispered.

"There's not much to tell. It was almost midnight last night, and I was starting to get nervous because you weren't home yet. Then all of a sudden someone was banging on the door, and when I opened it he was standing there holding you. You were completely out of it."

"He told us you were hurt," their mother continued the story. "He said he found two guys from town attacking you in the Meadow and he fought them off and brought you here."

"He brought your bag, too," Prim added.

Katniss couldn't believe it.

"What was Peeta Mellark doing in the Meadow in the middle of the night?"

Neither of them could answer her.

"I didn't think to ask, Katniss. My priorities right then were on finding out how badly you were hurt."

"He didn't stay very long," Prim said. "Just long enough to make sure you were going to be okay, then he took off."

"I wish he had stayed," said their mother. "I never even got a chance to thank him, and he had a few bumps and bruises that I should have had a look at."

Katniss tried to comprehend what they were telling her, but her head was pounding. She couldn't think about Peeta Mellark right now.

"What about the guys who attacked me?" she asked.

Prim and her mother exchanged a look.

"Peeta said he left them in the Meadow," Prim said. "He also said if you decided you wanted to tell the Peacekeepers about what happened, he would be happy to testify to what he saw."

Katniss closed her eyes. She couldn't deal with that right now, either. She couldn't deal with anything. She just wanted to go back to sleep and forget everything that had happened. Despite her greatest efforts, she felt tears welling in her eyes. Her mother saw and gathered her into her arms.

"Poor baby," she crooned. "You're okay. You're safe now. Everything's going to be okay."

Katniss could hear Prim sniffling beside them, and she knew she needed to pull herself together for her little sister's sake. Be strong.

Gently she disentangled herself from her mother and asked, "So, how hurt am I?"

"Mainly just scratches and bruises," her mother answered. "And you have a twisted ankle, but I'm mostly concerned about that bump on the back of your head—I'm fairly certain you have a concussion. You're pretty responsive now, though, so I think it must be mild. Still, you'll need to take things really easy for the next few days."

"But school…and I need to work…"

"Out of the question," her mother said firmly and for once Katniss didn't argue.

"Can I take a bath?" she asked meekly. She felt an urgent need to scour her skin—to wash away all traces of the night before.

"I've already got water heating on the stove, "Prim answered. "Why don't you go on back to the bathroom and I'll bring it to you?"

Katniss sat up fully for the first time as Prim headed for the kitchen. She had to fight off a wave of dizziness before she realized that under the quilt she was still wearing her work uniform, which was gaping open from her waist up. She quickly covered herself.

"Peeta saw me like this?"

"Oh, sweetie…it's okay. He covered you up with his coat before he brought you here. I'm sure that was the last thing on his mind."

Katniss hung her head, so embarrassed and ashamed she almost couldn't bear it.

"Come on," her mother said gently. "Let me help you."

Leaning on her mother, Katniss slowly made her way back to their bathroom, which was really just a curtained off corner of their only bedroom. Prim brought back the hot water, and her mother brought her a steaming cup of tea that she promised would help Katniss' headache, then they left her alone to bathe.

Katniss undressed slowly, every muscle in her body aching. She was relieved to find that Devin had only managed to cut one side of her panties and that otherwise they were intact. She hadn't been sure she could rely on her foggy memory, but it seemed Peeta really had come to her rescue before anything even worse could happen.

_Peeta_.

No, she couldn't think about that yet.

Instead she made an inventory of her injuries. Twisted ankle. She couldn't remember when that had happened—maybe when she had kicked Ryland off. Scraped knees and elbows. She couldn't see it, but her back felt scratched up, too. Her fingernails were dirty and broken, one torn almost completely off. That hurt pretty badly. Both of her wrists were badly bruised. Finally, she looked into the small mirror hanging on the wall to examine her face. One cheek was bright red from where Devin had twice slapped her, and the eye on that side was starting to blacken. A split lip and a large scrape on her forehead.

What a sight she was.

Looking away in disgust, she stepped into the large washtub and proceeded to scrub herself down. Twenty minutes later and an entire bar of soap later, she still didn't feel completely clean.

She felt dirty. Violated.

Here in relative privacy she finally let go, letting the tears flow freely. How could she have been so stupid? She never should have crossed the Meadow. She should have been paying closer attention to her surroundings. She should have run the second she saw them. She should have at least stood her ground after cutting Devin—maybe if she hadn't run they wouldn't have gone after her as hard as they had. And she had had a knife—maybe if she hadn't been such a coward she could have fought them off herself instead of having to be rescued like a stupid damsel in fucking distress.

This kind of thing was not supposed to happen. Not to her. Not to the girl who had been the head of her family since she was twelve. Who hunted and killed animals without a hint of remorse or pity. Who needed no one else to take care of her—she had always been able to take care of herself and her family all on her own. She was strong. Or at least she had thought she was. But somehow all of that felt like it had been taken away.

Katniss sat there until the water had gone cold and Prim came with a towel to coax her out.

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Katniss spent the next three days in bed, hiding away from the world. She sent Prim to school and Sae's with the message that she was sick with the flu. She begged her mother to give her sleep syrup to help her escape her own thoughts, but Mrs. Everdeen refused. It wasn't safe, not with a concussion, so Katniss did her best to stay unconscious on her own.

Gale stopped by on Saturday, but she refused to see him, giving the excuse that she was still contagious. He left a bouquet of wildflowers behind.

Katniss couldn't stay asleep all the time, and when she was awake she couldn't help going over what had happened again and again. Mostly her thoughts centered on Peeta. She had so many questions. Why had he been there? Why had he intervened? He could have been seriously hurt. Had he told anybody what had happened? Her mother said he had been injured…was he okay?

He had left his jacket behind, and it hung on the chair in the kitchen, taunting her. She found herself in the middle of the night on Friday, holding it in her lap as she sat on the couch, thinking about the boy with the bread. This wasn't the first time he had saved her. When they were both eleven, he had given her two loaves of bread, saving her and her family from starvation. He had taken a beating to do this, despite the fact that he hadn't even known her.

It seemed she was always getting him hurt, and they had never even spoken.

Slowly she lifted the jacket to her face and inhaled. Cinnamon and flour and sugar. She smiled.

When she realized what she was doing, she threw the jacket down in embarrassment and went back to bed.

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Katniss knew she had to return to her life, had to face people again. If she missed any more school, the Peacekeepers would come looking for her, and her family couldn't afford for her to miss any more work, either. She decided she would force herself out of the house on Monday.

Unfortunately, there was one thing she needed to do before she returned to school—she needed to see Peeta, to thank him. So on Sunday afternoon she got herself dressed in her usual pants and shirt, put on her boots and her father's old hunting jacket, braided her hair, gathered her courage, and headed out to the bakery in town. She made sure she left early so she would be able to get back before it turned dark.

When she got there she hesitated—should she go to the back like she usually did when she came there to trade? Or would it be more appropriate to go in the front for something like this?

Finally she decided to go around back as usual—there was much less chance of meeting the witch that way. Katniss really didn't think she could take an encounter like that right now—not in her current fragile state.

She climbed the steps and peeked through the screen door into the kitchen, and was relieved to see Mr. Mellark working there alone. It had been too much to hope for it just to be Peeta, but this was the next best thing. She knocked quietly on the frame of the door. The baker turned around at the sound and smiled broadly when he saw who it was.

"Katniss! How are you? Got any squirrels for me today?"

He walked over and opened the door, and froze when he saw her face.

"Hey, what happened to you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Katniss said, trying for a casual tone. "I'm just a klutz…tripped and ran into a tree. Can you believe it?"

She had rehearsed this story a few times in her head, and she thought she made it sound pretty good, but she wasn't sure the baker bought it. He didn't force the issue, though.

"Well, you need to be more careful," he said. "Can't go around messing up that pretty face of yours like that. Now, how about those squirrels?" He eyed her bag eagerly.

"Sorry, Mr. Mellark. I don't have any squirrels today. I was um…I was actually wondering if Peeta was here?"

The baker's smile grew even wider.

"Sure, he's just upstairs. Want to come in while I go get him?"

Katniss hesitated.

"No sir, thank you. I'll just wait out here if that's okay."

"Suit yourself. I'll send him out in a minute."

Katniss nodded her thanks and turned to walk back down the steps. She wandered back over by the same apple tree she had collapsed under that day so many years ago. She reached out to touch the trunk and the memories came rushing back.

A cold, wet, miserable day. The ache of an empty belly. The warm lights of the bakery, a harsh voice. Then Peeta, his face red and swollen on one side where his mother had hit him. The two loaves of bread that had almost burned her when she held them so close. The feeling of hope.

"Katniss?"

She turned to see Peeta coming out the door and hurrying over to her. She was shocked to see that he had a black eye to rival her own.

"Hey," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said. "Looks worse than it is. How about you?"

"Looks worse than it is," he echoed her words and smiled. "I'm really glad you came—I've been worried. Prim said you were doing fine but it's nice to see you out and about again."

Katniss was having trouble meeting his eye—she couldn't help remembering the state of undress he had found her in.

"I had to come to say thank you," she said. "My Mom and Prim told me what you did. If you hadn't been there…"

"Katniss, you really don't have to…"

"No, please," she interrupted, determined. "If you hadn't been there, who knows what could have happened. So thank you."

Peeta shuffled his feet awkwardly before finally simply saying, "You're welcome."

Katniss nodded, relieved to have said what she came there to say.

"Why _were_ you there?" she couldn't resist asking.

"Me? Oh, I just…I'd been having trouble sleeping. I was out walking when I heard you call for help."

"You went walking in the Seam in the middle of the night?" Katniss asked, doubtfully.

"Yeah, well, I guess I wasn't paying that much attention to where I was going," he answered.

"That's not safe, you know," she chided him.

"Yeah, I think I've figured that out, now," he smiled.

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Oh, I almost forgot. I brought your jacket back," she said and pulled it from her bag. "I hope you didn't get in trouble for not having it."

"Thanks," he said. "Don't worry, nobody noticed."

But Katniss was distracted—when he reached for the coat, she saw that his knuckles were bruised.

"Your hands!" she gasped, grabbing his hand to look closer.

"What? Oh, that," he said, glancing down unconcerned.

"Did this happen when…?"

"Yeah," Peeta met her eyes.

"And your eye," she whispered. "Oh, Peeta, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, Katniss," he said kindly. "It looks a lot worse than it feels, like you said. Besides, it was totally worth it. And you should see the other guys."

Katniss suddenly realized she was still holding Peeta's hand. She dropped it quickly and took a small step back, her face hot.

"What did you tell your parents?" she asked.

"Nothing—just that I'd fallen off my bike."

"I told your Dad I fell into a tree."

Peeta laughed. "We're a clumsy pair, I guess." Then suddenly he grew serious.

"Are you going to report them?"

"No, of course not," she said shortly.

"Why not? Those guys can't get away with this, Katniss."

She shook her head.

"You've got to be kidding. The word of one girl from the Seam against the word of two merchant's sons? No way."

"But I'm from town," he insisted. "If I told them what happened…"

"And what would that get you, Peeta?" she interrupted. "You'd become a pariah among your friends, siding with the Seam girl against your fellow townies."

"I don't care about that."

Katniss snorted.

"Spoken like a guy who's never been a pariah. Forget it, Peeta."

He sighed. "I figured you say that. But if it's any consolation, I don't think you need to worry about Devin and Ryland coming after you or anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Peeta said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let's just say my brothers and I paid them a little visit yesterday and made them understand what would happen if they came near you again. They seemed to get the point."

Katniss just stared.

"You did _what_? Why did you do that?""

Peeta shrugged.

"I knew you wouldn't go to the Peacekeepers about it, and somebody had to do _something_."

Katniss closed her eyes. Why did this boy keep stepping into her life this way?

"I wish you hadn't done that," she said. "Now they're just as like to come after you instead."

"They can try," Peeta said with a hard glint in his blue eyes. "Honestly, I'd love to go another round with them."

Katniss decided she needed to change the subject.

"So does that mean your brothers know what happened? Who else knows?"

"No one," Peeta hastened to assure her. "I didn't tell anybody, not even my brothers. I just told them some guys had been harassing a friend of mine and they agreed to back me up."

Katniss eyed him carefully and decided he was telling the truth.

"Your brothers must be good men, to do that without even knowing the details."

"They are," Peeta said simply. Then, "Look, do you want to come in? I could get you something to drink…"

"No, thank you," she said. She had already stayed much longer than she had intended to. "I need to get back home. I just wanted to say thank you. I'll never be able to repay you for everything you've done."

She hoped he understood that she wasn't just talking about saving her from Devin and Ryland.

"You don't need to repay me for anything," he said.

Katniss just shrugged and turned to go. "Bye, Peeta."

She was almost around the corner of the bakery when he called out after her.

"Katniss?"

She turned around.

"What?"

"If you really want to repay me I know a way."

"How?"

"We could be friends, maybe."

She just smiled at him sadly.

"I thought you knew, Peeta," she said. "Seam and Town can't be friends."

She turned and walked away without waiting for his reaction.


	3. Chapter 3

Monday morning came much too quickly. Katniss was awake before the dawn, nervous about the day to come. She wasn't sure what to expect—had the story leaked out? Would everyone be pointing and whispering behind her back? Or would they buy her tripped-and-fell-into-a-tree story? The best she could hope for was that she would be invisible like always.

The hardest part was walking into the schoolyard at the beginning of the day with Prim. She did get a few second glances, but for the most part people seemed to pay no special attention to her. Her teachers all asked what had happened, so a few kids heard the story that way. By lunch, everyone seemed to know and believe the lie she was telling, much to her relief.

As it turned out, being back in the routine of school was actually doing her some good. Her nerves were soothed by the orderly rotation of classes, the smell of chalk, the squeak of tennis shoes in the hallway. It was all comfortably familiar. Sitting at home alone all day, while necessary, had allowed her to spend far too much time inside her own head.

Only one incident threatened to mar her day. After second period Katniss went to her locker to exchange her books. She was startled when Peeta Mellark suddenly appeared at her shoulder.

"Hi Katniss," he said with a smile and leaned on the locker next to hers.

Katniss quickly looked down the hall in both directions to see who was watching, and then turned back to hiss, "Are you insane?"

Peeta looked at her innocently.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said.

"I'm fine. Now go away!"

When he didn't move, Katniss slammed her locker shut with a huff and walked quickly away. She was relieved when he didn't follow—she had no idea what he had been thinking, seeking her out openly in public like that. If he did it again he could bring down a lot of trouble on them both.

She felt bad for being so rude to him after all he had done for her, but there were clearly defined rules for life in District Twelve, and you disobeyed them at your own peril. She had done it for his sake as much as for her own.

They had two classes together later in the day, but thankfully Peeta didn't try to talk to her again. She guessed he had finally gotten her message about not being friends.

After school Katniss went directly to the diner, where she was greeted warmly by Sae. She donned her apron and plunged into work. It was a busy night, and thankfully she didn't have time to dwell on her problems.

She was bussing a table after the dinner rush when she looked up to see Gale walking through the door. She quickly turned away. Normally Katniss was happy to see her best friend, but this surprise visit from him was not welcome now. She had not planned to see him until their usual Sunday hunting excursion this weekend, when her injuries would be healed, or at least much easier to hide. Now there would be all kinds of awkward questions, and Gale was the one person on the planet who always knew when she was lying.

"Hey, Catnip!" he called out. She turned to greet him, but she was careful to keep the bad side of her face turned slightly away.

"Hi Gale. What are you doing here?"

"Missed you this weekend. Thought I'd check in on you but when I went to your house your Mom said you were back at work, so here I am."

"That's sweet of you, Gale, but I wish you hadn't had to walk all the way over here," she said. "I know you're always worn out after working all day."

"It's no problem. Like I said, I missed you," he said with a cheeky grin. "Come on, ask Sae for a break so we can talk for a few minutes."

Katniss couldn't think of an excuse not to do as he asked. It seemed there was no delaying the inevitable, so she led Gale to the alley behind the restaurant where at least they could have their confrontation in private.

As they walked through the back door Gale was talking a mile a minute.

"So I wanted to ask you…have you noticed Prim and Rory acting funny lately? I think something must have finally happened between them. It's ridiculous. They're only fourteen!"

His voice trailed off as she turned to face him.

"What the hell?" he said.

"It's not a big deal, Gale. I just had an accident."

"What happened?"

"I was in the forest, and I tripped. Ran straight into a tree. But it's nothing, really."

Gale looked at her skeptically.

"You tripped? Catnip, you never trip."

"Yeah, well," Katniss said. "I guess I was starting to get sick, and I got lightheaded for a minute."

She thought this was a nice touch, and Gale did seem to buy it for a minute until he reached out for her.

"C'mere, let me get a closer look," he said and grabbed her by the wrist. She unintentionally let out a small yelp of pain.

He furrowed his brow.

"What…?"

She tried to retrieve her arm but he pulled her back and pushed up the sleeve of her sweater to see the dark bruise on her wrist that had only just begun to fade. Then he quickly reached for her other arm to reveal the bruises on that wrist, too.

Without looking up, he whispered, "Who did this to you?"

"Gale…"'

"Who did this to you?" he almost yelled. "And don't lie to me again. Don't give me some bullshit story about falling into a tree. Tell me who did this!"

"I can't," she said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because…if I tell you, you're going to go off half-cocked and do something stupid."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Katniss…"

"No, Gale. A lot of people could get hurt."

"You _are_ hurt!"

"I'm fine."

Gale turned and walked a few paces away, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Then he spun back around.

"I can't believe you won't trust me with this. I thought we were best friends, Katniss!"

"We are!" she protested. "Which means I know your temper. If I tell you you'll just make things worse. It's over, I'm fine, I just want to forget about it, okay?"

"Someone lays their hands on you and I'm supposed to just forget about it? You're kidding, right?"

"It's my life, Gale. It's my decision."

"Yeah, and apparently your decision is to cut me out."

"It's not like that!"

"That's what it feels like! I thought we were in this together, Katniss! I thought we were supposed to have each other's backs!"

Katniss shook her head.

"Not this time, Gale. I'm sorry."

Gale just stared at her for a minute. "Fine," he finally said, his voice cold. He turned and walked away down the alley.

"Gale!" she called after him, but he didn't turn around.

She sighed in frustration. Maybe once he cooled off she'd be able to talk sense into him. It kind of ticked her off that here she was…the victim, the one who was hurt, and he was angry with _her_. Didn't he realize she was just trying to protect him? Couldn't he swallow his pride and anger for once to just be there for her and offer her his comfort?

Still angry, she went back inside to finish her shift.

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Thoughts of Gale kept her mind occupied for the next couple of hours, but as the end of the night approached they were superseded by her fear of the coming walk home. It would be her first time out after dark since the attack, and as the time neared she found she was far more nervous about it than she had thought she would be.

The last hour of her shift flew by much too quickly, and suddenly it was time to go. Her hands were shaking as she hung up her apron. She made her way out slowly, procrastinating by pausing to talk to Sae and Thom as she went. Finally she had no excuses left to stay, and she walked out the door.

She stood there in the lights of the café for a moment, trying to gather her courage.

_Come on, Katniss. You've made this walk a hundred times before. You'll be fine._

Her little pep talk wasn't working. She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate a little, her heart was pounding, and her feet felt as though they were stuck to the pavement. She couldn't do this. She would go back inside to wait for Sae and Thom. They didn't close up until one which was still two hours away, but at least then she wouldn't have to go home alone.

She was seconds from going back in when she heard someone clear his throat behind her. She whipped around to see Peeta Mellark leaning up against the side of the building. He stood up straight when she looked at him.

"Hi," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well," he said. "I was hoping you'd let me walk you home."

For a minute Katniss didn't answer. She just looked at the boy in front of her. He was smiling a little uncertainly, his blonde hair tousled, his blue eyes hopeful.

She should say no. The right thing to do was to say no. She should not encourage him on this strange quest to be her friend that he seemed to be on.

But she couldn't. She couldn't face the long walk home alone. So instead of doing the right thing and saying no, she just nodded her head and said, "Okay."

Peeta's smile became a grin.

"Okay, then," he said and they fell into step together.

It felt very strange to Katniss to be walking side by side with this boy through the deserted streets of District Twelve. She didn't know what she should say to him—they had nothing in common as far as she knew. Not that she was ever good at making small talk, but it seemed especially hard with Peeta. Considering their history together, to speak of the weather seemed ridiculous.

Fortunately, Peeta didn't try to force a conversation. He seemed content to walk beside her in silence, so after a while Katniss stopped worrying about it. After all, she reminded herself, she wasn't trying to become Peeta's friend. She didn't need to impress him, or put him at his ease. She really had no idea why he was here, but that wasn't her concern.

She couldn't help but be grateful for his presence, though, especially when they entered the darker streets of the Seam. When they approached the turnoff for the Meadow she grew tense. How could she explain her reluctance to take the shorter route without admitting she was afraid? But Peeta didn't seem to need an explanation—he walked right past the turnoff without hesitation or comment.

When they finally reached her house, Peeta spoke the first words between them since they had left the café.

"Well, here we are," he said. "Goodnight, Katniss."

"Goodnight, Peeta. Thank you."

He nodded and smiled.

"See you tomorrow," he said, and walked back into the night.

As she entered her house, Katniss suddenly realized something. Peeta had brought her here the night of the attack all on his own. She couldn't help but wonder—how had he known where she lived?


	4. Chapter 4

Tuesday morning Katniss woke up still thinking about Peeta. She wondered if he would try to talk to her at school again, and whether he would be there that night to walk her home. She knew she probably shouldn't let him do it—she shouldn't have even let him walk her the night before. But if she was honest with herself, she had to admit she would not turn him down if he offered again. As ashamed of it as she was, she was still afraid to walk home alone.

When Rory showed up to walk Prim to school, Katniss felt a pang of guilt. She had not once thought of Gale and their fight since shortly after he had left the night before. As she watched Prim's face bloom pink when Rory took her books from her, Katniss remembered what Gale had told her before they had starting arguing—that something was going on between their younger siblings. From what she could see, Gale had been right. She trailed behind as they walked to school, observing the way Prim and Rory walked closely together, almost touching. There was a bounce in Prim's step, and her frequent laughter floated through the crisp morning air.

Katniss smiled.

She knew Gale thought they were too young, but Katniss didn't really think it was so bad. Gale was just overprotective of Prim, even when the boy in question was his own little brother. But Prim and Rory had known each other for years—their friendship was almost as old as Katniss and Gale's. And Rory was a good kid. He was trustworthy. Katniss knew he would never intentionally hurt her sister.

And if he made Prim happy, who was she to deny her that? Katniss had decided a long time ago that she would never get married, would never fall in love. But Prim was not like Katniss—it was in her nature to keep her heart open. Katniss wouldn't have it any other way; she didn't want her sister to share her own jaded view of the world. So if Prim fancied herself in love, Katniss was happy for her. And even happier that it was Rory, who she knew would always treat Prim like a queen.

When they reached the schoolyard, Prim tore herself away from Rory to speak to her sister before the first bell rang.

"Katniss, there's something I think I should tell you," she said, pulling her sister over to a corner so they wouldn't be overheard.

"What is it?"

"Rory was asking about your injuries. He asked if I was sure it was just an accident."

Katniss rolled her eyes.

"I'd bet all my money Gale put him up to it," she said. She told her sister about the fight she had had with Gale. "Gale's just using him to try and worm information out of you."

Prim looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. But I think you did the right thing—Gale has a horrible temper."

"Tell me about it. You didn't tell Rory anything, did you?"

"No, of course not. But I just thought you should know."

"Thanks, Prim. I guess I'll try to talk some sense into Gale again later."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Prim grinned.

"Oh, shut up."

The bell rang.

"Better get to class, Little Duck. Give Rory a kiss for me, okay?"

"Katniss!" Prim cried, embarrassed. Katniss just laughed and tweaked her sister's nose.

"See you later!" she called as she walked away, still chuckling to herself. She was going to have some fun teasing Prim about her new little romance.

Just before she reached the door, Katniss looked up to see a pair of blue eyes watching her from across the yard. When he saw her looking back at him, Peeta smiled and gave a small wave. Unable to help herself, Katniss smiled back before she hurried into the building.

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The rest of the day passed by smoothly. Peeta didn't try to approach her, although she thought she might have seen him looking in her direction a few times. She did her best to avoid his gaze, since there were only two options available to her for a response: she could either give him a smile, or she could give him a glare. Neither choice was appealing, so she avoided looking altogether.

After school Katniss headed to the Market to pick up a few odd and ends before starting her shift at Greasy Sae's. After she had finished her shopping, her eye was caught by a beautiful piece of fabric at the dry goods stall. She ran her fingers over the soft material—the deep blue would exactly match the shade of Prim's eyes, and Prim had a birthday coming up. She checked the price tag and sighed. Maybe she could pick up a few weekend shifts and save up for it.

She was walking away when she saw something that made her gasp. Standing there not ten feet away was Devin.

He hadn't spotted her yet—he was too busy haggling with the butcher. Katniss noticed that he looked horrible; he had not one but two black eyes, and his arm was in a sling. Suddenly he looked up and caught her eye. They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity, and then Devin sneered and looked away. He was limping slightly as he walked off.

Katniss realized she had been holding her breath. She felt lightheaded, so she made her way over to a bench where she sank down, shaking. She had always known the odds of running into Devin or Ryland eventually were high, because District Twelve just wasn't that big. But why had it had to happen so soon? She had been having such a good day.

She sat there for nearly ten minutes trying to calm down, but when she realized she was going to be late for work she forced herself to get up and move along.

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Peeta was waiting when her shift ended that night, and she was so glad to see him after what had happened she returned his smile as they started off together. They walked in silence for about ten minutes before Katniss surprised herself by speaking.

"I saw Devin today."

At first she wasn't sure why she was talking to Peeta about this, but then it dawned on her that he was really the only person she _could_ talk to. Gale, her usual confidante, was out of the question. Prim had already been scared enough, she was just too young. And her mother…well, Katniss hadn't really talked to her mother in years.

"You saw Devin?" Peeta asked, his tone angry. "What the hell? I told him to stay away from you!"

"No, no," Katniss said quickly. "Not like that. We just both happened to be at the Market at the same time. It was a coincidence."

"Oh," said Peeta. He looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I think so. It was kind of a shock, but I guess it had to happen sometime."

"Did he see you?"

"Yes."

"Did he do anything?"

"No, he just shot me a nasty look. All he could do, really, in a public place like that."

"If he ever touches you again, I'll kill him, I swear," Peeta said, his voice tight. "I have a mind to go punch his face again a few times just for looking at you."

Katniss was a little taken aback by his vehemence. Peeta had always seemed to her to be such a kind and mild person, it was strange to see this side of him.

"That won't be necessary, Peeta," she said and tried to lighten the mood a little. "I think you worked him over pretty well the first time. He looked like he'd been hit by a train!"

"Yeah, well…he deserved it," Peeta muttered.

"Well, I won't argue with that," Katniss said. "But how did you do it? Fight both of them at the same time, I mean?"

She had been wondering this for days.

"I don't know," Peeta shrugged. "I guess I'd just had more training than them. I'm on the wrestling team, you know."

Katniss nodded. She had known that.

"Plus, I have two older brothers. You don't grow up in a house full of boys without learning how to fight," he laughed. "Especially when you're the baby."

Katniss experienced a moment of disconnect trying to reconcile this tall, broad-shouldered young man beside her with the word baby. She grinned to herself.

"There were other factors, too," Peeta went on thoughtfully, as though he had never considered this question before.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Well, for starters…you had softened them up pretty well for me. They were both already bleeding when I got there."

Katniss laughed. "True. I broke Ryland's nose."

"And did a very nice job of it too, if I may say so," Peeta grinned.

"You may. What else?"

"They were drunk," he said. "That slowed their reflexes just enough to give me an advantage. And, I guess, the fact that I was so angry. When I realized what they were doing…I just saw red."

Katniss didn't say anything to this. She didn't know what _to_ say.

"I'm sorry," said Peeta. "Does it bother you to talk about it?"

"No," Katniss answered honestly. "I think it kind of helps, actually." She paused. "I have thanked you for what you did that night, right?"

Peeta laughed again.

"More than amply, I promise."

"Good."

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Every night for the next two weeks, Peeta was waiting for her when she walked out of Greasy Sae's. Like the first night, most of the time they didn't talk. Katniss didn't mind the silence, but she couldn't help wondering what was going on in Peeta's mind.

They never interacted at school, even though they shared two classes and a lunch period. Peeta seemed happy to comply with her unspoken wish to keep their relationship a secret. He didn't impose on her in any way, he simply showed up every night to see her safely home.

She couldn't understand what he was getting out of the arrangement. As time went by, it started to bother her more and more.

Finally, on the Friday night two weeks after their walks had started, Katniss couldn't stand it any longer. They had just turned down her street when she spoke up.

"Peeta, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he said.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he asked innocently.

"This," Katniss spread out her hands. "Why do you walk me home every night?"

He looked at her sideways.

"I'm just making sure you get home safely."

Katniss sighed, frustrated.

"I know that. That's not what I'm asking."

"So what are you asking?"

"I'm asking _why_? Why you? Why me? You don't even know me. Why have you taken on this…responsibility?"

By this time they had reached her house, and Peeta stopped and just looked at her for a minute.

"You really don't know?" he asked quietly.

"No," said Katniss. "If I knew I wouldn't be asking."

He paused, then took a step towards her. He was standing much too close now. He looked into her eyes.

"Katniss…" he breathed, and suddenly his hand was cradling her cheek.

Katniss was frozen in place, held captive by his gaze. Time seemed to slow down, and she could hear her own heart beating. She had time to notice how long and full and blonde his eyelashes were, the freckles scattered sparsely across his nose. He was leaning in. She could feel his breath warm on her face. He was going to kiss her.

She pulled back with a jerk, and time resumed its normal pace.

"I'm sorry," she gasped. "I'm sorry, Peeta. I don't…I don't want to do that. I'm sorry."

She turned and practically ran inside her house. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it, breathing heavily. She could not believe what had just happened.

Quickly, she moved to the window and peeked out from behind the curtain. She was just in time to see Peeta turn and walk away with his hands in his pockets and his head bowed. Katniss felt like crying as she watched him go.

So now she had the answer to her question, and he had the answer to his. And when Monday night came, she knew he would not be there to walk her home again.

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**AN: Gah, I always forget to add these. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you for all the kind reviews and alerts and favoriting. Each and every one really means a lot. Please keep reviewing…I love to hear what you all think! And if you have any questions about where the story is going, etc., I'm glad to answer as long as it doesn't give too much away! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Katniss woke up Saturday morning still feeling miserable about what had happened with Peeta. She had never meant to hurt him. She hadn't had any idea he had those kinds of feelings for her. How could she have? They barely knew each other. But it did explain his behavior over the past couple of weeks. She supposed she had been pretty dense not to at least suspect something like this.

It was Gale all over again.

She wondered how long Peeta had had feelings for her. Maybe since the night of the attack. Maybe he had an attraction for girls who needed to be rescued. It didn't really matter now, though.

She dreaded Monday. Not only would she have to face Peeta at school, there would be the lonely walk home that night to get through. She decided to go out to the forest—that almost always worked to bring her peace. Plus, there was a chance she would run into Gale there, and they still needed to talk.

She hadn't seen her best friend since their fight almost two weeks before. Last Sunday she had gone out to their usual meeting place in the forest, but he had never showed up. She had been forced to hunt alone, and as a result had brought in about half of her usual haul. This could not stay this way for much longer.

As it turned out, she didn't see him today, either, but it was okay. The solitude of the forest was not unwelcome. She came home in the early afternoon with three rabbits and a calmer spirit. She had carefully avoided shooting at any squirrels.

When she walked into her kitchen she discovered Rory sitting at the table with Prim, supposedly studying for an upcoming exam. She greeted them both, then said, "Rory, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," he said.

"Will you please tell your stupid older brother that if he doesn't show up tomorrow, I will personally hunt him down and kick his ass?"

Rory grinned broadly.

"Gladly."

"And tell him I miss him, too."

"Okay."

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Gale was waiting for her at the rock when she got there early the next morning.

"You got my message?" she grinned at him.

"Loud and clear, thanks," Gale said, still trying to be grumpy but without much success. "You'd kick my ass, Katniss? Really? You and what army?"

Katniss just laughed. Then she grew serious again.

"So can we talk about what happened?"

"Are you going to give me a name?"

"No, Gale, I'm sorry."

"Then I think we should just forget about it. Agree to disagree, okay?"

"All right. For what it's worth, Gale, I appreciate what you're trying to do. Thank you for trying to protect me."

Gale sighed.

"Same back to you, I guess. I know you're just trying to keep me out of trouble. It was someone from town, wasn't it?"

Katniss couldn't see the harm in revealing that much.

"Yes, it was," she answered.

Gale just nodded and said, "I thought so."

Gale's prejudices against townies were strong and deep-seated. Briefly Katniss wondered what he would say if she told him about Peeta. She shuddered—hopefully he would never find out.

"So should we check the traps first?" she asked, moving on.

"Sounds good to me," said Gale, and they set off.

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Making peace with Gale helped Katniss feel a bit better, but she still had Monday to get through. When she woke up that morning, she had a moment where she considered pretending to be sick, but she almost immediately put that thought aside. She had to face Peeta at some point—she might as well go ahead and get it over with.

When she walked into the schoolyard with Prim and Rory, the first thing Katniss did was to look around for Peeta, but he wasn't there. She ended up not seeing him until her Panem History class, which they shared. If she had been worried about an awkward confrontation, she needn't have—Peeta didn't so much as glance at her even once. Katniss felt silly. Of course he would want to avoid her as much as she wanted to avoid him.

It was funny, Katniss reflected later that evening, how a person's perception of time could be so fluid. When you were looking forward to something, the minutes dragged by like years, and when you were dreading something, they flew by like seconds. She could have sworn she had only been at Greasy Sae's about half an hour when all of a sudden it was eleven and time for her to make her first walk home alone since the attack.

Katniss knew she was being silly, it had been over two weeks now, and it was time to get over her fear. But she couldn't help it—the thought of even walking past the Meadow, let alone through it, made her entire body quake. She made a very sudden decision.

"Sae, do you mind if I hang out for a while? I have some homework to do and the light's better here than at home. I could walk home with you and Thom later," she said.

Sae looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Makes no difference to me, girl," she said.

Katniss smiled, relieved.

"But," Sae continued drily, "you better tell your young man out there—I think he's waiting for you."

Katniss turned quickly to the café windows to see Peeta standing just outside. He was blowing on his hands and stamping his feet in an attempt to keep warm. She felt a wave of gratitude and relief wash over her—he didn't hate her, after all.

She turned back to Sae with a pleading look, and the old lady grinned.

"Don't worry, girl. I can keep a secret. Go on now."

Katniss hurried to remove her apron and don her coat. She grabbed her bag and hurried outside, calling goodnight to Sae and Thom as she went.

Peeta turned around and smiled when she came through the door.

"Hi. Can I walk you home?" he asked, as though it was the first night again.

"Yes, "nodded Katniss, smiling.

"Let's go, then."

They walked for about five minutes before Katniss finally could work up the nerve to speak.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said.

Peeta didn't answer right away.

"What kind of person would I be," he said finally, "if I let you walk home alone, knowing how scared you are? Just because you don't feel about me the same way I feel about you?"

That gave Katniss pause. She hadn't thought of it that way before. Certainly she wouldn't have thought any less of him if he hadn't shown up tonight.

"I think you're an exceptionally kind person, Peeta," she said. "Most guys wouldn't have come back."

Gale, for instance, she couldn't help thinking. He was supposed to be her best friend, but he hadn't spoken to her for two weeks even though he knew she must have just gone through something horrible.

"Peeta shrugged.

"Maybe not," he said, then, "Look, Katniss—I don't want things to be weird between us. If you just want to be friends I'm okay with that. And if you just want a silent escort home, I can be that, too. Whatever you want, but I'm not going to leave you out here alone."

"I…thank you, Peeta," Katniss stumbled. "I think…I think I _would_ like us to be friends."

"Good," Peeta smiled. He paused a moment, then asked, "But not at school, right?"

Katniss blushed. "I'm sorry, Peeta—I just worry about what it would mean for you if you were seen in my company."

"I've told you I don't care about that."

"Well, I do, okay? It's different for me—I hardly have friends, anyway. But you—you have tons of friends. You don't know what it's like to be on your own."

"All right," he conceded. "But I want to go on record as saying that I think you've got it built up to be much worse in your mind than it actually would be. I think most people wouldn't care."

"Duly noted," Katniss said, but privately she thought he didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"Okay," he said. "Now, can I ask one question and then I promise to drop anything related to this topic forever?"

"Shoot," she said.

"Is the reason…I mean…Gale Hawthorne. Are you and he…?"

"No," she said. "He's just my friend."

"Okay," said Peeta, and it was obvious he was content to leave it at that, but for some reason she didn't quite understand, Katniss kept talking.

"We're friends, but…about six months ago he asked me to marry him," she confessed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Obviously, though, I said no."

"Why?"

Katniss shrugged. "I don't love him like that. And I don't ever want to get married."

"Really? Why not?"

"I have my reasons," Katniss said shortly, only willing to share so much. Peeta seemed to understand because he dropped the subject.

"But you and Gale are still friends? That's nice."

"Yeah, it was hard at first but I think we're finally starting to get back to things being normal again."

"Well, that's good. You guys have been friends for a long time, right?"

"About six years, now," Katniss said, and then she was telling him all about the first time she and Gale had met, and then she went on to tell him a few stories about some of their more exciting adventures poaching in the forest. Peeta laughed uproariously when she told him of the time she had been treed by an unusually aggressive badger.

"Why didn't you just shoot it?"

"I dropped my bow!" she admitted, shamefaced.

When Peeta finally stopped laughing, he asked her, "Do you think you could take me to the forest sometime?"

"Really?" Katniss asked. "I never pegged you for an outlaw, Mellark."

"Oh, I walk on the wild side all the time," Peeta said casually. "So how about it? I've always been curious to know what it's like."

"I'll take you sometime, then," Katniss agreed. "But we'll have to be really careful."

"Okay," he said. "Well, here we are."

Katniss looked up, surprised to see that they were already at her house. She and Peeta had talked the entire way home.

"Goodnight, Peeta," she said. "Thank you."

"See you tomorrow night?'

"Okay," she smiled and went inside.

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It continued like that for several weeks. Peeta would show up at Greasy Sae's every night at eleven like clockwork, and they would walk home together, talking the entire way. Katniss found that despite, or perhaps because of, their differences, they found plenty to talk about.

Peeta told her about growing up with two older brothers, about working in the bakery, and about the first time he had discovered he had a talent for drawing. Katniss told him about Prim, and about the outings to the forest her father used to take her on. They amused each other with stories about working with the general public, and they both talked about their less than ideal mothers, which was something they both shared.

"I don't know how you stand it," Katniss said one night in late December. "I mean, my mother and I have our problems, but at least she never _hit_ me."

"I don't know," Peeta said thoughtfully. "I mean, it's no fun getting hit, obviously, but at least it happens fast and then it's over. What your mom did, though—I mean, you and Prim could have died."

"We would have, if it weren't for you."

By now this was a familiar topic of discussion. Although that day in the rain appeared to stand out in Peeta's memories as strongly as it did in hers, they could never agree on its significance. Katniss always insisted he had saved their lives, and Peeta always contended that she would have figured things out eventually on her own, and that at most he had gotten them through a bad night or two.

Apparently not wanting to start that topic back up again, Peeta waved it off.

"At least your mom is better now. Mine still comes at me with the rolling pin sometimes."

"Why don't you leave like your brothers did? You're eighteen, she can't stop you."

"I might when school's over. I feel bad leaving my Dad, though. Also, I can't really afford…"

Peeta never got to finish whatever he was about to say, because his eye had just been caught by the person coming out of the shadows of Katniss' front porch. She followed his gaze to see Gale standing there.

"What the fuck is this?"

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**AN: Oooh, cliffie! Now, show of hands—who thinks Gale is going to take Katniss and Peeta's friendship like a mature adult? *crickets chirping* Okay, well, maybe not such a big cliffhanger after all.**

**I really enjoy writing dialogue between Katniss and Peeta, I have no idea why. But I'm afraid the story has been dragging the last few chapters? I'm torn because I want them to have time to get to know each other, and for Katniss to trust Peeta, but I know you guys like to get to the good stuff. Don't worry, it's coming soon.**

**Please, please review and let me know your thoughts!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Gale!" Katniss said, her heart sinking. "What are you doing here?

"I came to talk to you for a minute. I wasn't aware we'd have company," he said, glaring at Peeta. She could feel Peeta's body tense up beside her.

"Gale, this is Peeta Mellark," she said, trying to salvage the situation. "You know him from the bakery, right? And Peeta, this is Gale."

Polite as ever, Peeta held out his hand. "Hi Gale, nice to finally meet you."

Gale just looked at him, and after a moment Peeta lowered his hand. Gale turned back to Katniss.

"Why is he here?" Then he paused, a look of revelation crossing his features. "Wait…is he the one…is he the one who hurt you?"

Katniss wanted to laugh, the idea was so absurd. What did he think? That she was involved in some kind of torrid, abusive affair? Peeta didn't seem to find much humor in it, though.

"Now wait just a minute…" he started to say angrily, taking a step forward. Katniss stilled him with a touch to his arm.

"Gale, really!" she said. "Do you even know me at all? Do you really think I'd go around with someone who did that to me? Peeta would never hurt me. _Never_."

"I thought I knew you, but now I'm not so sure, Katniss. So why is he here? Is this like a _romantic_ thing?" he practically spat the words.

"Gale, stop it. Peeta is my friend. He's been walking me home in the evenings."

"Why?"

"For her protection," Peeta interjected. "It's not safe for her to walk home alone this late at night."

Gale sneered at him. "Katniss doesn't need protection."

"You don't know what she needs," Peeta said evenly.

"Why you goddamn little…" Gale started towards Peeta, his hands in fists. Katniss quickly stepped between them.

"Both of you, stop. Gale, let me talk to Peeta for a minute. I'll be right back."

She pulled Peeta back down the street a ways.

"Peeta, I'm so sorry. I'll talk to him."

"Why didn't he know about me, Katniss? Why am I such a big damn secret?"

"You're not a secret, Peeta. Mom and Prim know. Sae knows."

"But not Gale. I thought you guys were best friends?"

"We are…but, I mean…you saw how he reacted just now. I was trying to avoid this whole scene. But now I see…you're right. I should have told him from the beginning. I'm really sorry."

Peeta's face softened.

"It's okay, I understand. I guess I should leave you two to talk, though. Will you be all right?"

Katniss smiled.

"Oh, I'll be fine. Gale and I fight all the time. It's just business as usual," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"All right," he said. "I'll go then. Just don't let him come after me with a knife or anything, okay?"

Katniss laughed. "I promise I won't. Goodnight, Peeta."

"Goodnight."

She watched him go, then she took a deep breath and walked back to Gale.

"What are you _doing_ with him, Catnip?" Gale started in right away.

"Keep your voice down, you'll wake Mom and Prim. I told you, he's my friend."

"Since when?"

"Since he saved my life," she said bluntly.

Gale just stared for a moment, shocked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what happened back in October—when I was hurt but I couldn't talk to you about it because you were so mad at me."

"So tell me now."

"I was attacked coming home from work. Two guys from town. They were about to rape me. I think they might have even killed me when they were finished, but Peeta came and saved me before things could go too far."

Even now, she had to fight to keep her voice steady when speaking of it.

Gale was horrified.

"My god, Katniss. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that happened to you, and I'm so sorry I was such a jerk afterwards. I didn't know."

"You never gave me the chance to tell you," Katniss said.

"I know. You're right. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already did, Gale. It's okay, really."

"Well," Gale said, suddenly determined. "It will never happen again, I promise you that. I'll start walking you home from now on, and when I can't do it Rory can fill in for me…"

"Gale," Katniss interrupted. "That won't be necessary. I told you, Peeta walks with me."

"But Katniss," Gale said, obviously confused. "You don't have to do that anymore. I'll take over, and you can get rid of Mellark."

Katniss rolled her eyes. Gale could be so obtuse sometimes.

"Gale, I don't want to get rid of him. Peeta is my friend. I _like_ walking with him."

"Katniss, he's a _townie_."

He spoke as if it was a dirty word.

"So what?" Katniss challenged him.

"So, you know perfectly well that townies don't become friends with girls from the Seam without having an ulterior motive."

Katniss shook her head.

"Peeta's not like that. He's different."

Gale snorted. "More patient than most, maybe. I mean, come on…you're telling me he's never tried anything with you?"

Unbidden, the night of her almost-kiss with Peeta flashed in her mind. She quickly tried to shove it aside, but Gale had seen.

"That's what I thought," he said.

"Gale, you're not being fair. You don't even know him."

"I know him as well as I want to."

"Even though he saved me? That doesn't earn him any respect in your eyes?"

"It earns him my gratitude. But he didn't do anything any person with half a conscience wouldn't have done. It doesn't mean I'm wrong about him."

Katniss sighed.

"You're determined to hate him."

"And you're determined to like him."

"He's never given me a reason not to," she said.

Gale studied her closely.

"Are you falling for him?" he asked accusingly.

"What? No!" Katniss protested. To her fury, she could feel her face growing hot. "You know how I feel about all that."

"Yeah. I also know that things can change. I had just hoped they would change in my favor, not some damn townie's."

"You're being ridiculous, Gale."

"Am I? Well, I'll tell you this much. I'm not going to associate myself with a girl who has the kind of reputation you're going to have when people find out about you two."

Katniss just gaped at him. "I can't believe you!"

"Make your choice, Katniss. Him or me."

Katniss was enraged.

"You don't own me, Gale! You don't get to tell me who I can and cannot be friends with! I honestly never knew you could stoop so low."

"So does that mean you choose him?"

"No. It means I refuse to choose. I will not stop being Peeta's friend, and if that means I lose your friendship, then that's _your_ choice, Gale."

"Fine," Gale said coldly, brushing past her to walk away.

"Fine!" Katniss yelled at his back. She spun around and went inside, slamming the door behind her.

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It was by far the worst fight Katniss and Gale had ever had. She didn't know if she could ever forgive him for some of the things he had said. Katniss cried into her pillow that night, fearful that this was finally the death blow to their friendship.

Thinking about it, she thought maybe the friendship had really ended when he had proposed to her so many months ago. Maybe they had just both been in denial. He had been under the delusion she would change her mind, and she had made herself believe he would be content with only being her friend. They had both been wrong. Gale still seemed to have a sense of ownership over her, and she bristled under the control he was trying to exert. She doubted now whether they could ever go back, and her heart ached at the thought.

Still though…she couldn't regret any of her part in it. She had been right to turn down his proposal of marriage, and she had been right to stand up for her friendship with Peeta. It didn't really help her to feel better about the situation, though.

The next morning at school Katniss didn't see Peeta until History again. He kept shooting her anxious looks, despite her attempts to smile reassuringly in return. Finally, he made up an excuse to make a trip to speak to the teacher, and as he passed her desk he surreptitiously placed a folded piece of paper on top of her notebook.

"Should I still come tonight?" The note read.

She wrote a one word answer and passed the paper back to him on his return trip. When he read it, his face bloomed into an enormous smile. Katniss couldn't help smiling back before she remembered herself. She put her head in her hands.

_Oh, we are so going to get caught if we keep doing that._

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January came, and brought with it bitter cold and snow flurries. Katniss and Gale were still not speaking—Katniss was starting to wonder if they would ever speak again, since neither of them seemed inclined to reach out to the other first. She missed him, and she missed their Sundays hunting together, but she didn't feel she owed anybody an apology. If Gale wanted to be friends, he would have to admit he was wrong. Katniss thought hell might freeze over first.

Peeta continued to come for her every evening, and Katniss was starting to feel guilty about making him walk the long way around when it was so cold. The way through the Meadow was so much quicker. One night she stopped at the turnoff.

"Let's go this way," she said, trying to sound confident.

"Are you sure?" Peeta said. "We don't have to."

"I know. But I think it's time."

"Okay," said Peeta, and they started off.

Katniss was doing fine until they started to near the spot where she had first encountered Devin and Ryland. Her steps started to slow. She wasn't sure she could do this, after all. Then Peeta took her hand in his.

"It's okay," he said gently. "I'm here."

She nodded at him and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine," she said. "Let's keep going."

The strength and warmth of his hand gave her the confidence to continue all the way across. She was so relieved to have finally made it over this hurdle she didn't even notice that Peeta had kept her hand in his all the way home. She blushed when she realized, and was frustrated with herself for not minding one bit.

From that point on, she and Peeta always took the shortcut through the Meadow.

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One night in early February, snow started to fall in the evening just before the end of Katniss' shift. She didn't think much of it at first—she and Peeta had walked through the snow several times already, and thanks to the wages she earned at the diner, she had a warm coat, hat and gloves to protect her from the cold. But as they walked, the wind started to pick up and the snow started coming down heavier and faster. She was beginning to get a little worried.

"Peeta, maybe you should leave me here," she said when they entered the Seam. "This looks bad and you still have to walk the whole way home."

"No, it's okay," Peeta said. "I'll take you the rest of the way."

"Peeta…"

"Katniss," he interrupted. "We can stand here arguing about it, or we can hurry and get home before it gets any worse. Either way I'm coming with you."

"Fine," she said, exasperated. They started walking again. Katniss tried to set a quick pace, but it was getting harder and harder to walk against the wind and the quickly-drifting snow. By the time they reached her house, the storm was officially a blizzard. It was near white-out conditions; Katniss could barely see further than three feet in any direction.

"Peeta, come inside!" She had to yell to make herself heard over the howl of the wind.

"No, I have to get home!"

"Peeta, no!" She grabbed his hand. "You need to stay here. You'll never make it all that way!"

"I'll be fine!"

All of a sudden her mother appeared out of nowhere.

"Come inside, you two!" she yelled, putting her arm around Katniss. Then she gestured at Peeta. "Peeta, you'll have to stay until this is over. Come on, there's plenty of room!"

"I'm sorry, I can't!" he yelled back. "I have to get home!"

"Peeta!" Katniss cried as he pulled his hand away from hers. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be okay!" he answered, backing away. "I'll see you soon!"

"Peeta, come back!"

But he was gone.

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**AN: [Phoebe] Dun, Dun, Dun! [/Phoebe]**


	7. Chapter 7

The next two days were some of the longest of Katniss' life. The blizzard raged on unceasingly—to step outside was to be blasted by the driving wind, to be invaded by a bone-chilling cold. Travel even a short distance was next to impossible.

Katniss felt like a caged animal. During the day she prowled from window to window, anxious to detect any lessening of the storm. Her mother and Prim sat by the fire, trying to calm her, but their reassurances fell on deaf ears.

At night Katniss lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the shrieking of the wind. She could not stop thinking about Peeta. Her imagination ran wild, feeding her all sorts of terrifying images of him, lost and wandering in the storm.

Why had he been so insistent on leaving? Didn't he know how dangerous it was? His coat was much nicer than her own, but would it be enough to protect him? Surely, _surely_ he had had enough sense to stick to the road. If he had tried to cross the Meadow, it would have been far too easy for him to lose his bearings, only to wander in circles until cold and fatigue overcame him. But if he stayed to the road, there were fences and mailboxes and lampposts to guide him, and houses for him to take shelter in if he needed to.

She knew he was smart enough to figure that out. She had to believe it, or she would go crazy.

When she did sleep, it was only to suffer from horrifying nightmares of finding Peeta's frozen body buried in the snow, blue and stiff in death. Or else she would find herself wandering lost in the storm, chasing after Peeta who was nothing more than a vague shadow, always too far ahead to see clearly. In these dreams, she knew that reaching Peeta meant reaching safety, but she could never catch up to him, and he seemed deaf to all her attempts to call out to him.

Sometimes she thought the blizzard would never end—that it would rage on and on until the end of time. But of course that was impossible. On the third night the storm finally blew itself out and they woke up to a bright and sunny, if cold, day.

The roads were still impassable, but Katniss was determined. She couldn't take another day of not knowing. She brought out the shovel and dug a path all the way to the Hawthorne's, three houses down. After two hours of hard labor, she found herself knocking on their front door. Thankfully, it was Rory who answered. He was shocked to see her.

"Katniss! What are you…how did you…is something wrong? Is it Prim…?"

"She's fine, Rory," Katniss hastened to assure him. "Everything's fine, I just came to ask a favor."

"Hi Katniss!" Said Hazelle Hawthorne, coming to stand next to her son. "How are you? Did you all come through the storm all right?"

"Yes, we didn't have much damage. Just a few shingles gone. How about you all?"

"Same," Hazelle answered. "But won't you come in? We were just about to sit down for lunch."

Katniss glanced over Hazelle's shoulder. She could see Gale sitting at the table, determinedly avoiding her gaze.

"Thank you, but no," she said. "I just came over to see if you still have that old pair of snowshoes? I wondered if I could borrow them for a while."

"Of course," said Hazelle. "Rory, could you…?"

"I know where they are," he answered. "I'll be right back."

Hazelle turned back to Katniss.

"We miss you around here," she said, her voice low.

"I know. I miss you guys, too."

"Don't you think it's about time for you two to make up? I've never seen you apart for so long before."

"It's not up to me, Hazelle."

The older woman sighed. She was about to say something else when Rory came running back to the door.

"Here you go, Katniss," he said, handing over the snowshoes. He had his coat slung over his arm. "Mom, is it okay if I run over to the Everdeen's for a bit? I want to see Prim."

"Go ahead," his mother said, and he whooped and started running down the path Katniss had just made.

"Put on your coat!" Hazelle called after him, then she turned to Katniss and rolled her eyes. "Young love," she said drily. Katniss laughed.

"Thanks for the snowshoes," she said. "I'll try to get them back to you this afternoon."

"No rush, Katniss. Just don't break an ankle using those things or your mother will have my head on a platter."

"Don't worry. See you later."

Katniss strapped on the snowshoes and headed for town.

Getting through the Seam was slow-going, and by the time Katniss reached town her ankles and calves were aching. She pressed on, though, determined not to spend one more night worrying about Peeta. Fortunately, once she reached the paved streets of town she could move a bit faster—most of the merchants had spent the morning shoveling their sidewalks in anticipation the flood of customers that were sure to come after the storm.

Before she knew it, Katniss was standing in front of Mellark's Bakery. She hesitated for a moment—now that she was here she was almost afraid to go in. What if her worst fears had come true?

Finally she gave herself a mental shake and forced herself to move. She flew up the stairs and through the door. She heard the tinkle of the bell above, but was momentarily blinded after coming in from the bright sunshine. Finally she was able to see that the store was empty save one person.

Standing there in front of her was Peeta, holding a broom, alive and well. He wore an apron, and Katniss could see smudges of flour on his shirt and in his hair. When he saw who had come in, his face lit up.

"Katniss!"

She couldn't speak. After all her worry over the past few days, after the pacing and the nightmares and lack of sleep, and the tortuous trek to get here, she had only one emotion left to feel when she finally saw him safe and sound.

Pure, unadulterated rage.

"You ASS!" She yelled, and flew at him. He jumped back, dropping the broom with a clatter. "You inconsiderate, selfish, stubborn _ass_!"

With each word she spoke, she gave him a shove. When he was finally backed into the wall, she started using her fists to beat against his chest.

"What the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea how scared I've been? Do you have any _idea_? I thought you were _dead_!"

Peeta had been trying in vain to catch her hands, to stop her assault. Finally he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, trapping her arms against his chest.

"You jerk!" She sobbed, her voice muffled against him. "How could you do that to me?"

"Katniss, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he said, his breath warm in her ear. He wrapped his arms even tighter around her, and she finally stopped trying to fight him. Instead she wrapped her own arms around his torso and held on for dear life. She couldn't stop crying.

"I've been so scared…"

"Katniss it's okay. I'm sorry I frightened you, but I'm here. I'm fine. Everything's okay."

He was stroking her hair now, and she felt him give her temple a small soft kiss. She finally started to relax. He was so warm and strong and _there_.

"Why did you have to go?" she asked, her voice plaintive. "Why didn't you stay with me?"

He sighed. "I guess I should have, but…did I ever tell you that I've been sneaking out at night to come meet you?"

"No," she sniffled.

"I know it's ridiculous—I'm a grown man. But…you've met my mother. I usually do anything I can to avoid a confrontation with her, so I've been keeping it a secret. That night…if I hadn't got back home, she would have found out. She never could have kept me away from you, but she would have made things very…difficult. I didn't want anything to jeopardize my time with you—I've been living for our walks together. If I lost that I don't know what I would do."

"You still should have stayed," she admonished.

He laughed softly.

"I know. I was halfway home when it finally started to dawn on me what an idiot I had been. At that point, though, I didn't really have any choice but to keep going. Took me over an hour to get here."

Katniss didn't say anything. She just held on tighter.

"I'm really sorry, Katniss," he said again.

"I know," she whispered.

"Thank you for worrying, though," he said softly. "I didn't think you…I didn't know you cared so much."

She pulled back a bit to see his face. His blue eyes stared into hers.

"I do care, Peeta," she said. "Don't you know that?"

He nodded.

"I think I'm starting to realize," he whispered.

They just stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Katniss was starting to realize, too. Then Peeta lowered his head and kissed her.

For once in her life, Katniss allowed herself to enjoy the moment. She didn't think, she didn't analyze, she simply felt. She felt the strength of his arms holding her tightly to him, the warmth of his body against hers, the tenderness of his touch. She felt his lips soft and warm on her own, the happiness bubbling up inside her.

All she knew was that she wanted that feeling to go on forever.

They stood like that, lost to the world, for several minutes. Then they heard the jingle of the bell over the front door.

Startled , Katniss pulled away and turned around to see the person who had just walked in. Her heart sank when she saw who it was. Ethel Jessen was known as the District's biggest gossip, and she was standing there with wide eyes and a grinning mouth, looking for all the world as though she had just walked in on the biggest scoop of her life.

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Katniss was already a good ways down the sidewalk before Peeta caught up to her. He grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop.

"Katniss, wait."

"Peeta, let me go."

"No, Katniss. We need to talk about this. Please."

"Let me go," she repeated, trying to pull her hand away.

"Would you _stop_?" Peeta said, and for the first time, Katniss heard anger in his voice that was directed at her. She froze. "Stop trying to run away from everything. You can't hide us forever, Katniss!"

"This is exactly what I've been trying to avoid, Peeta! Now everyone is going to know…"

"You're right. They will. The damage has been done, Katniss, so will you please come back and talk to me? If nothing else we need to figure out how to handle this."

Katniss looked at him. She knew he was right.

"Okay," she said.

Peeta let out a relieved sigh. "Okay. Come on."

Still not releasing her hand, Peeta headed back to the bakery. As they climbed the steps, he told her, "Just go straight on back to the kitchen while I take care of Mrs. Jessen really quick. Don't worry, my mom and dad are both upstairs."

"All right," said Katniss, and when they went through the door she walked straight to the back, carefully avoiding the gaze of Mrs. Jessen.

"Sorry about that, ma'am. What can I do for you today?" she heard Peeta say as she pushed her way through the swinging door and entered the large kitchen.

She wandered around aimlessly, picking things up without noticing what they were before putting them back down. She couldn't stop thinking about the way it had felt to kiss Peeta, and she couldn't stop wondering how they were ever going to get out of this mess.

She heard the bell over the front door chime again, and then Peeta came into the kitchen and hung his apron up on one of the pegs lining the wall. "Come on," he said, taking her hand to lead her through a door and up a staircase. When they reached the top, Katniss realized she was standing in the Mellark's living room. Mr. Mellark was sitting in a chair next to the windows, reading a book. He looked up as they entered.

"Dad," Peeta said, "Do you mind covering the store for just a little while? I need to talk to Katniss in private."

Katniss blushed, but Mr. Mellark just smiled kindly.

"Of course, Son," he said rising from his chair. "Take your time, but keep it down—your mother is napping in her room."

"We will, Dad. Thanks."

Mr. Mellark headed for the stairs, and as he passed he briefly placed a hand on Katniss' shoulder.

"It's good to see you, Katniss," he said quietly.

"Thank you, sir," she said.

Peeta led her down a hallway to his bedroom. She looked around with curiosity—she had never imagined herself here. It was unexpectedly small and, she saw to her amusement, messy. The bed was unmade, and there were clothes strewn here and there. The corner of the room nearest the window was devoted to his artwork. His desk was there, and it was cluttered with pencils, notebooks and loose paper. The wall above was covered with a mosaic of his sketches and paintings.

She walked over, eager to get a closer look. Although she and Peeta had spoken extensively of his love for art, she had never seen any of his work firsthand. She could see immediately that he was extremely talented. His favorite subject seemed to be people, as she saw many faces staring back at her from the wall. She recognized his father and brothers, and children who could only be his nieces and nephew. There were also many faces familiar to her from school—Peeta's friends. But the face that appeared most often was her own.

"Sorry," Peeta spoke softly behind her. "You're kind of my favorite subject to draw. I hope it doesn't bother you."

"It doesn't," she answered honestly. "They're amazing. Truly, Peeta. All of them."

She turned to see him smiling shyly.

"Thanks," he said.

Then an awkward silence fell between them as they both remembered the reason they were there.

"Look, Peeta," Katniss finally started, but Peeta swiftly interrupted her.

"I love you."

Katniss just blinked. "What?"

"I said I love you. I'm _in love_ with you. I have been for a long time."

Katniss didn't know what to say.

"Peeta, I…you…you can't."

Peeta laughed.

"What do you mean, I can't? I can. I do."

Katniss shook her head. "No. No…"

Peeta stepped across the room to take her hands, and then he started to speak very rapidly.

"I know you don't feel the same way I do, Katniss. That's okay. And I never would have said anything unless…The way I did it before, when you asked me why, that was a mistake. I knew you weren't ready but I just wasn't thinking. But now, the way you kissed me downstairs—don't you think there could ever be a chance you could love me, too?"

He looked imploringly into her eyes. Katniss wanted so badly to tell him yes, to see his face light up with happiness. But she couldn't.

"Peeta, it would never work," she whispered.

"Why not? Because I'm from town and you're from the Seam? That doesn't matter, Katniss."

"It does."

"It _doesn't_. We could be together and nobody would care except a few random idiots."

"You're wrong."

"I'm not. For god's sake, Katniss! How could you of all people…your own parents, they made it work. According to my father, they were madly in love. They were _happy_, Katniss."

Katniss jerked her hands away.

"Yes," she said bitterly. "They were in love, and just look what that got them. My father died and my mother was _destroyed_, Peeta!"

She stopped, suddenly realizing she had revealed too much. Peeta stared at her, understanding dawning on his face.

"You're not afraid of what people will think. You're afraid of getting hurt if you let someone get too close to you."

"Maybe I am. You weren't there, Peeta. You don't know what it was like."

"So, what…your solution is to be alone for the rest of your life?"

"I'm not alone. I have Mom. I have Prim."

"And when they're gone?"

"Better to be alone than to be broken."

Peeta was looking at her in disbelief.

"You can't really think that."

"I do."

He shook his head.

"No. No, you care about me. You said it. You _kissed_ me."

"I do care about you, Peeta. As a friend. The kiss…the kiss was a mistake."

"It wasn't."

"It was. I was emotional, I haven't been sleeping…"

"Those are just excuses."

"Peeta, please…"

Before she knew what was happening, Peeta had swept her into his arms. He pressed his lips insistently to hers, and for a moment Katniss couldn't help but respond. But then she gathered her strength and pushed him away with both hands.

They stared at each other, breathing heavily.

"Katniss, don't. Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry, Peeta," she whispered, and ran out the door before he could see her tears.

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**AN: Well, there you go. An extra-long chapter, chock full of **_**stuff, **_**just in time for your Cinco de Mayo reading pleasure. (I hope). And you guys! Over one hundred story alerts for this fic. That totally blows my mind.**

**I was half-awake when I edited this, so if you see any glaring errors please let me know.**

**Also, I just thought you all should know that I very nearly cut this chapter off when Edith Jessen walked in, but I decided I should keep going for a bit. Aren't you glad? Don't you think I deserve a reward? Something like…I dunno…a review?**


	8. Chapter 8

Katniss was now grateful for the snow. It took two days for the roads to be cleared enough for life to return completely to normal, which was two days of reprieve before she had to face Peeta again. She spent those days in a state of languor—she didn't seem to have energy for doing much other than sitting in front of the fire. Her thoughts were always with Peeta. She wondered what he was doing, what was he thinking? Was he okay?

To her frustration, the one thing her mind kept returning to over and over was the kiss they had shared in the bakery. She even dreamt of it once, and woke up with a sense of happiness mixed with longing before she remembered what the true state of things was. Then she was overcome with heaviness, and stayed in bed for the rest of the morning.

Her mother and Prim seemed to sense something was bothering her, but they didn't pry. They simply treated her with extra gentleness, letting her be quiet when she needed to be, offering their companionship when she wanted it.

On the night before Katniss and Prim were to return to school, their mother was called out to attend a birth. She came home late to find Katniss sitting before the fire, wrapped in a blanket and staring blankly at the dying embers. Without looking up, Katniss asked, "Everything okay?"

"Boy," her mother answered, taking off her coat. "Eight pounds, six ounces and the strongest lungs I've heard in a long time."

"That's good," Katniss said, not really caring.

With a sigh, her mother sank down in the chair next to her.

"So," she said. "You and Peeta Mellark, huh?"

Katniss just looked at her, surprised.

"Oh, come on, Katniss. You know how fast news flies in this District. A little snow's not going to stop that," she smiled.

Katniss shrugged and looked back down. "There is no me and Peeta. The gossips have it wrong."

"So the fact that you've been moping around here for the past two days has nothing to do with the rumor that you and Peeta were seen kissing in the bakery?"

"Mom, you're prying."

"I thought that was one of my duties as your mother."

Katniss bit back the sharp retort that had immediately sprung to mind, and instead remained silent. She knew her mother was trying.

"Well," said her mother after a few moments. "I just thought you might want to talk about it. If you change your mind, Katniss, I'm here. Anytime, okay?"

Katniss just nodded.

"I'm going to go ahead and hit the bed, then," said her mother as she stood up. "It's been a long night. Don't stay up too late, okay? You've got school tomorrow."

She kissed Katniss on the top of the head and walked back towards the bedroom.

Katniss hesitated, and then called out softly, "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you ever wish you and Dad had never met?"

Her mother came and sat back down. "Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Well, I mean…if you had never met him, you wouldn't have been so hurt when he died."

"That's true," said her mother slowly. "But if I had never met him, I wouldn't have you and Prim. I wouldn't have had the happiest fifteen years of my life."

"So you think it was worth it?"

"Absolutely. Katniss, I wish about a hundred times a day that your father was still here with us. That he had never died. But I never, not once in my life, wished I had never met him. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't change anything."

Katniss absorbed her mother's words. Then she asked, "What was it like for you? When you first married him? I mean, you being from town and moving to the Seam…was it hard?"

"Oh, I don't know…" her mother said thoughtfully. "I suppose it was hard in some ways. Not having as much money as I was used to was a huge adjustment. And I know I've told you how my parents reacted—they didn't approve, to say the least."

"What about your friends?"

Her mother shrugged. "Some of them were supportive, some of them weren't. Over time, even the supportive ones grew distant, just because of the differences in our circumstances. But I made new friends, and just being with your father made me so happy none of those other things ever seemed to really matter."

They sat in silence while Katniss thought about what her mother had just told her. She wasn't entirely sure she believed it—of course her mother would say she didn't regret anything. What else could she say at this point? She couldn't very well tell her own daughter she wished she had never had her.

"Is this about you and Peeta, Katniss? Are you two becoming more than friends?"

Katniss played with the fringe of the blanket.

"He wants to be," she finally confessed. "But I'm not so sure."

"Why not? Do you just not feel that way about him?"

"I don't…I don't know. I suppose I could, if I decided to let myself."

"But you won't, because of all the things we just talked about," her mother guessed.

Katniss nodded. Then she asked, "Do you think I'm a coward?"

"No," her mother answered softly. "Oh, no, Katniss. You're one of the bravest people I know. You're just…scarred. And I can't sit here and pretend it's not my fault."

"Mom…" Katniss started, but her mother interrupted.

"No, Katniss—let's call a spade a spade. When your father died I fell apart. I was supposed to take care of you and Prim, but I didn't. I failed you both. Because of my weakness, you had to step in. You had to grow up way too fast. And in the process you didn't just learn how to provide us with food—you also learned that to love is to get hurt. It made you afraid to open your heart."

They were both crying a little, now.

"Katniss, don't let my mistakes follow you for the rest of your life. Don't be afraid to let yourself be happy," she said. "Promise me you'll think about what I've said, okay?"

"I promise," Katniss sniffled.

"Good," said her mother, relaxing back into her chair. After a few minutes, she said, "Peeta's such a nice young man. Did I ever tell you his father and I used to be sweethearts?"

"What? No!" said Katniss, surprised.

Her mother nodded with a smile. "We courted for several months when we were young."

"I can't believe I never knew that!"

"Well, it was so long ago—he probably doesn't even remember. If your father hadn't come along to sweep me off my feet, I might have married him. He was always a nice young man, too. Peeta reminds me of him a lot."

"Huh. So Peeta and I might have been brother and sister. That would have made things a lot less complicated," Katniss said ruefully.

They both laughed a little.

"Less complicated, I guess," said her mother. "But with a lot less potential to become something wonderful, Katniss."

"Okay, Mom. I get your point."

"That's good, because I'm exhausted. Come on, let's go to bed."

A short time later Katniss lay staring at the ceiling, thinking about all her mother had said. She was still confused about things, but she couldn't suppress a small bubble of hope that was growing inside her.

Maybe she would talk to Peeta tomorrow. Maybe he could help her make sense of all this.

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The pointing and whispering started the moment she and Prim stepped into the schoolyard the next morning. With everything else that had happened, Katniss had forgotten to worry about the consequences of getting caught.

Despite Prim's protests, Katniss quickly shuffled her sister off to class, eager to get her out of the line of fire. She couldn't believe she had never considered how her relationship with Peeta would affect Prim. Katniss didn't mind the negative attention so much, but Prim was different. She was so fragile, so used to everybody loving her and being kind to her. Katniss hoped this day wouldn't be too difficult for her.

She wondered how Peeta was faring. Were his friends teasing him? Questioning him? Shunning him? He was used to being liked, too.

Katniss made her way down the hall to her locker, aware of every face that was turned her way. She noticed with interest that there were only a few angry or disdainful looks—most people just looked curious or excited.

But still, they were looking, and Katniss hated that.

She was still working on her locker combination when she heard his voice at her shoulder.

"Hi," he said quietly. "Can we talk?"

"Hi," she said, turning, feeling her face grow warm. But when she looked up at his face, she gasped.

Peeta had a huge red welt on his cheek.

"Peeta, what happened? Who did that to you?

Peeta looked away awkwardly. "It's nothing," he said.

Katniss felt cold as realization set in.

"It was your mother, wasn't it?" she whispered. "Because of me. Someone told her and she decided to punish you for associating with me."

Peeta just stared at his feet. He didn't say anything, but he didn't really need to.

"I'm so sorry, Peeta," Katniss said, fighting back tears. "You're always getting hurt because of me."

"Don't. Don't say you're sorry, Katniss. It wasn't your fault. Please, can we go somewhere? I just want to talk to you for a little bit."

Katniss shook her head, all the hope she had woken up with this morning gone. She stared straight at her locker, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Peeta," she forced herself to say. "But I don't think we have anything left to talk about."

For a minute Peeta didn't say anything, then, "You want me to leave you alone," he said. It wasn't a question.

Katniss bowed her head. "Yes," she whispered.

"All right," he said, his voice broken. "I'll do what you want. Goodbye, Katniss."

And then he walked away.

That evening, for the first time since she had been attacked, Katniss walked home alone.

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**AN: Sorry you guys! But I did call this The **_**Long**_** Walk Home for a reason. We'll get there, don't worry.**


	9. Chapter 9

The days turned into weeks, the weeks into months. There were two or three more bad storms, but then the snow started to melt with the arrival of spring. It was almost May, and Katniss had never been so lonely in her life.

Prim spent nearly all her free time with Rory, and her mother was busier than ever—it seemed she was always being called out to attend to a broken leg, a serious illness, or the arrival of a new baby.

She and Gale still had not reconciled. Katniss knew he must have heard the rumors about her and Peeta, and he probably thought she had lied to him. Katniss wished she could tell him the truth, but she was also still angry with him, and she couldn't bring herself to approach him. Still, the loss of his friendship left a gaping hole in her life.

Most of all she missed Peeta. The walks home after worked seemed longer than ever without him by her side, making her feel safe. She missed everything about him—his smile, his warmth, his ability to find the best in everyone, to find humor in even the darkest situations. She missed his stories, the way his hands would gesture wildly in the air when he was talking about art, trying to make her visualize colors and shades and light. She missed him so much she ached with it.

Many times she thought about going to him to ask for his friendship back, but something always stopped her. The truth was, she was afraid to be rejected by him—he avoided her completely now, careful to keep his distance at all times. The very few times they had accidentally made eye contact at school, he had looked right through her, his eyes dead. Katniss knew she had lost any chance to be a part of his life in any capacity.

She thought it would get easier with time, but it didn't. She only missed him more as the weeks went by. Her walks home at night became harder, not because she was afraid, but because that used to be time she had spent with Peeta.

To fill her empty days, Katniss haunted the forest beyond the fence. She spent most of her weekends there, bringing in as much game as she could hunting alone. The forest had always brought her peace and inner strength, and these weekend excursions did help, though not as much as she would have liked.

One early Sunday morning in April found her sitting on the rock she and Gale used to use as a meeting spot. She was lost in thought, staring out into the trees, when suddenly she heard a twig snap behind her. The next second she was on her feet, an arrow pointed straight at the intruder's heart.

It was Gale.

He quickly held up his hands, palms out.

"I come in peace," he joked.

"Gale," said Katniss, lowering her bow. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," he said and gestured at the rock. "Mind if I sit?"

"Are you sure you want to associate with someone with a reputation like mine?" Katniss asked bitingly, but even as she said the words she was sitting back down, leaving room for him to sit beside her.

"Oh, wow," said Gale. "That was a pretty despicable thing for me to say, wasn't it? I'm sorry, Katniss. I really am. I didn't mean it."

"I know," said Katniss, her anger floating away with his words. "It's okay."

"I was just angry," said Gale. "And really, really hurt."

"I should have told you about Peeta," said Katniss. "I'm sorry, too."

"That's not really what I'm talking about, though," said Gale. "I mean, yes, it hurt that you hadn't told me, but it was more about the reason you hadn't told me. Or, the reason I _thought_ you hadn't told me."

"Sorry, Gale," Katniss said with a small smile. "I didn't understand a word you just said."

"I thought you were hiding him from me because you were in love with him, and you didn't want to hurt my feelings."

"Oh," said Katniss.

"Yeah," said Gale. "There I am, still in love with you, still hoping you'll change your mind, and then you walk up with this boy you've become friends with without ever telling me. And he's a townie. And he had been there for you when I hadn't—he was your hero. I just…in that moment I knew I'd lost you for real, and I lashed out."

"Oh, Gale," Katniss sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Catnip. You can't help the way you feel any more than I can. And I understand why you didn't tell me about him—I've never exactly been reasonable when it comes to town people."

Katniss couldn't really argue with this, so she wisely kept silent on that point. Instead she just said, "I've missed you, Gale."

"Me too."

For a while they just sat there in companionable silence, enjoying being together in the forest again.

"If it helps," said Gale as though there had been no pause in the conversation, "I think our time apart will turn out to be good for us."

"What do you mean?"

"I just think it's helped me get some…perspective, let's say. I mean, Catnip, you have to know I'll always love you. But, it just doesn't hurt like it used to. I guess I needed some distance to starting seeing things for what they are—to move on. I don't ever want to lose your friendship again, and if I have to let you go a little to keep it, I'll do it. I've finally accepted that."

"I'm glad," said Katniss. "That it doesn't hurt anymore, I mean. I never meant to hurt you, Gale. And it's been terrible, being without you these last few months."

"So…friends?" Gale asked, holding out his hand.

"Friends," agreed Katniss, ignoring his hand and pulling him into a hug instead. He held on to her tightly for a minute and then released her.

"Okay," he said. "As your official friend, I feel I have the right to ask…what's going on between you and Mell…sorry, Peeta? One minute I'm hearing that you two are getting caught making out all over the District, and then the next that you're never seen together. And I can attest that you, at least, are starting to look like death warmed over."

"Gee, thanks, Gale," Katniss said drily.

"I'm serious, Catnip. You've lost weight, and you've got these nasty dark circles under your eyes. What's going on with you?"

Katniss hesitated.

"It's okay to talk to me about it, I swear," said Gale. "I don't mind. I just want to be here for you for a change."

"Okay," agreed Katniss, still not sure but wanting to meet him halfway. "Well, for starters, whatever you heard about me and Peeta making out all over the place is completely untrue."

"I didn't think that sounded like you," said Gale. "Go on."

"There was one kiss, one time, and we just happened to get caught by Mrs. Jessen."

"Rotten luck. Go on."

"That's it, really. Peeta wanted more than friendship, I couldn't give it to him, and I haven't talked to him since."

"Did you give him the same reasons you gave me?"

Katniss shrugged. "That, and the whole Seam/Town thing."

"Uh huh. And how does all this explain your current state of misery?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you turned me down, you were a little sad. I know you felt bad about it, but I don't remember you falling into a deep depression or anything. Am I wrong?"

"No, but we were still friends. You didn't disappear from my life the way Peeta has."

"I didn't disappear right away, no…but Catnip, do you realize we haven't spoken in like four months? Be honest…you haven't been pining away for _me_, have you?"

Katniss flushed. "That's not fair, Gale. I've missed you horribly."

"I know…I'm not saying you didn't. I'm just saying you were functioning just fine until you and Peeta had your falling out."

"Get to the point," said Katniss impatiently.

"My point, Catnip, is that you're in love with him."

Katniss shook her head, trying to deny it. "No. No, I can't."

"It's not a choice," Gale said calmly. "You either love someone or you don't. And I'm afraid, my friend, that you _do_."

Katniss put her face in her hands as the truth sank in. How had she let this happen?

Gale laughed at her. "Katniss, it's not a _bad_ thing, you know."

"I don't want to get hurt," she whispered.

"Aren't you hurting already?" Gale asked, his voice soft now. "You can't go through life trying to avoid pain, Catnip. For one thing, it's impossible to do. For another, you miss out on all the good stuff that way."

"But that's not the only problem, Gale. There's still the fact that he and I come from two different worlds. His mother _beat_ him when she found out about us."

"You can't let what that bitch does influence you, Katniss! Or anybody else, for that matter, including me. I think I may be to blame here…you've heard me rant so much about how awful townies are, I think some of it sank in against your better judgment. I mean, except for his mother, was anybody that horrible to you when those rumors were going around?"

"Not really," Katniss confessed. "I guess I always thought it would be worse than it actually turned out to be."

She suddenly remembered Peeta telling her that very same thing. She hadn't believed him at the time, but he had been right. He had always been right.

"So what do I do now?" she asked plaintively.

"You go to him and tell him how you feel," said Gale. "And then you live happily ever after."

Katniss rolled her eyes.

"You make it sound so easy. What if I'm too late?"

"Doubtful," said Gale. "You're not exactly an easy person to get over, Katniss Everdeen. Believe me, I know."

Katniss looked at him. "Gale…thank you. Really."

Gale just shrugged. "I just want you to be happy, Catnip. If that means you end up with some arrogant townie, so be it."

He cast an evil grin her way.

"Gale! He is not…!"

"I'm just teasing," Gale laughed. "Come on, let's go home so you can go meet up with Mr. Wonderful."

"No, wait," said Katniss. "Let's hunt for a while first."

"Really?" Gale looked at her cautiously.

"Yeah," she said. "I've missed this. Let's just stay out for a bit."

"Okay," Gale answered her happily, and went to fetch his bow.

They spent the rest of the morning in the forest, but they didn't have much to show for it when they were finished—they had scared off most of the game with their chatter. They had four months to catch up on, after all, and the conversation flew freely. Katniss felt happier than she had in a long time.

They finally decided to head back around noon. They went to Katniss' house first, and Prim came out to meet them in the front yard. Katniss could tell just from looking at her that something was wrong.

"It's the baker. Mr. Mellark," said Prim, wringing her hands and crying a little. "He's…he had a heart attack. They called Mom out over two hours ago. He's…Katniss, he didn't make it."

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**AN: I bet you never guessed Gale would be the one to finally talk sense into Katniss, huh? Gotcha. I hope I didn't switch up Gale's personality too fast for you all. The idea I was trying to convey was that Gale was being extra jerkish at the beginning of the story because he was heartbroken, and still trying to deal with it. The time they spent apart helped him to start getting over Katniss, so he was changed when they finally reconciled. I mean, Gale's basically a good guy, he just lets his temper get the better of him sometimes. Katniss wouldn't care about him so much if he was always that awful. (To reviewer Kelly, you got ahead of me, girl!)**

**One more chapter to go, I think, and then a possible epilogue.**

**Finally, a quick note to reviewer "Anon." (Come on, sign in! I promise I won't bite!) I gave some serious thought to what you said. I respectfully disagree about the rating, but I did go back and add a warning to the beginning of Chapter One, since I know rape can be a very sensitive subject for many people. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!**


	10. Chapter 10

It was a dark and miserable day. The mourners gathered closely around the freshly dug grave, huddled together for warmth. The funeral director's voice could barely be heard above the drumming of rain on the umbrellas forming a temporary roof over the large crowd. The baker had been a well-liked and well-respected man, and most of the District had come to pay their last respects.

Katniss stood between her mother and Prim on the edge of the crowd. She was not listening to the service; she was simply watching Peeta who was sitting with the rest of his family on the opposite side of the grave. He wore his best suit, and his usually unruly blonde hair was carefully tamed. His head was bowed, but he was making no attempt to hide the stream of tears running down his face. She longed to go to him—to try and comfort him, but she couldn't. There was already someone else there in her place.

When Prim had first told Katniss and Gale the terrible news, her first instinct had been to run all the way to town to be with Peeta. Thankfully, Prim had reminded her that she needed to clean up first—she was covered in dirt and sweat from her ramblings in the forest that morning. So Katniss had said goodbye to Gale and went inside to make herself decent.

By the time she was done bathing, she had thought better of her plan. Despite what Gale said, she was not certain of her reception. Perhaps this was not the best time to talk to Peeta. He was sure to be in shock, and busy helping his family with preparations for the days to follow. She decided she would wait until the official visitation the next day, when Peeta would be expecting guests, and maybe she would be able to get him alone for a few minutes to talk.

Early the next afternoon, Katniss, Prim and their mother had put on their best dresses and walked into town. The bakery had been crowded with people standing in groups, speaking in hushed voices. Their mother was pulled aside by some friends, so Katniss and Prim went on alone to climb the stairs to the family residence, clutching each other's hands as they went.

When they reached the top, Katniss had to crane her neck, trying to find Peeta through the crowd of people who had gathered there. Then a cluster of people had moved, and she suddenly had a clear view of him. He was sitting on the couch, clinging to Delly Cartwright, one of their classmates from school. His face was buried in her neck, and she was holding him tightly in her arms as he cried.

Katniss felt like she had just been kicked in the gut.

She quickly turned to Prim, saying, "I…I suddenly don't feel very good. It's too crowded in here—too warm. I'm going to go get some fresh air."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Prim asked, a concerned look on her face.

"No, no…I'll be fine. I'll meet you and Mom outside."

With that she practically ran down the stairs, through the kitchen and out the back door. She went over to the apple tree and sank down, fighting back tears.

She was too late. Of course she was too late—she should have known someone like Peeta would not be alone for long. Her cowardice had cost her the only person she had ever loved, and the pain of it was almost more than she could bear. If she had not been so foolish, she could have been the one holding Peeta now.

A short time later her mother and Prim came out to meet her. They walked home in silence, each of them crying a little. Katniss was relieved that her tears could blend in with the rest, saving her from needing to answer any questions. As soon as they reached home, Katniss changed her clothes and headed for the forest. In solitude she was finally able to let out her grief fully, her sobs heard only by the trees and wildlife surrounding her.

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Now she stood here in the rain, her face stoic as she watched the boy she had lost. Delly was sitting beside him, one arm around his back, her opposite hand holding tightly to his. Katniss could see Peeta leaning into Delly slightly as he cried.

_That should be me._

It would be easier, Katniss supposed, if she could hate Delly, but she couldn't. It was her own fault she had pushed Peeta away. What was he supposed to do? Pine away for her forever? Spend his life alone, waiting for her to change her mind? Of course not.

And Delly wasn't the kind of person you could hate, anyway. She was one of the nicest people Katniss knew. She always found the good in a person, always looked on the bright side of the equation.

Much like Peeta always did.

Whereas she, Katniss, was so prickly and closed in she had almost no friends. She didn't know what Peeta had ever seen in her.

Delly had other similarities to Peeta. Like him, she was from the merchant class. She was beautiful, too, with the trademark blonde hair and blue eyes of the townies, and a body that actually had some feminine curves unlike Katniss' own slender frame. Delly and Peeta were a perfect couple—perfectly matched. There was no way Katniss could compete.

Suddenly the crowd of mourners started to shift, and Katniss realized the service was over. Now came the time for everyone to file past the family, giving their condolences personally. Katniss wanted nothing more than to run away, but she knew she couldn't. She owed it to Peeta, and she especially owed it to his father to go through with this. Mr. Mellark had always been so kind to her, and more importantly, to Prim. He was always giving more than fair trade for Prim's goat cheese, slipping in an extra cookie in the bag every now and then. Katniss had liked and respected the man, and she would honor him in this way, no matter how difficult.

She, Prim, and her mother joined the others who were lining up to walk past the Mellark family. Katniss saw Gale with his own family a little ways ahead. He turned a bit and their eyes met—they exchanged sad smiles. The baker had been one of the few merchants Gale had had any use for. She watched, a little anxious, when Gale came to Peeta, but the two young men simply shook hands without speaking.

Finally Katniss reached the front of the line. Peeta's mother was first, but Katniss just walked past her without a look, much less any word of sympathy. The woman didn't deserve it, and she was sure Mrs. Mellark was just as glad to avoid shaking the hand of Seam trash like her anyway. Next came Peeta's brothers and their wives, and Katniss shook their hands and murmured her condolences as was expected. Last in line came Peeta, standing alone. Delly wasn't family—at least, not yet.

Katniss stopped in front of him. Peeta's eyes were fixed on the ground, but then she saw them flicker up at her for a moment before shifting away again.

_He can't even look at me._

She didn't know what to say. What words could ever convey everything she was feeling? But she had to say _something_.

"I'm so sorry, Peeta. For everything," she whispered, and leaned forward to kiss his damp cheek.

Peeta didn't look up. He only mumbled, "Thank you, Katniss."

And that was it. There was nothing else to say. All she could do was walk away.

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Peeta didn't return to school until a week later. He looked tired and worn, his usual smile noticeably absent. Katniss remembered how returning to a normal routine had helped her after her attack, and she hoped it would help Peeta, too. She hated to see him so unhappy, and she knew from her own experience with death that the hardest part came later—after the funeral when all the family and friends had left, when you had time to sit and think about what you had lost.

Delly was always with him. In the hallways, at the lunch table, in the schoolyard—she was always at his side. It hurt Katniss to see them together, but at the same time she was glad Peeta had someone to be there for him. He deserved that.

That day at lunch, Katniss sat with Madge Undersee as usual. Madge was the mayor's only daughter and as such was in a social class of her own. Like Katniss, she kept mostly to herself. The two of them had often found themselves thrown together at school for things like group projects or sports activities. Although they rarely talked, Madge was the closest thing Katniss had to a girlfriend.

One of the things Katniss liked best about Madge was that she minded her own business—she wasn't usually one for gossip. When the rumors were flying around about her and Peeta, Madge had never said a word, never asked a question, even though she was one of the very few people Katniss might have confided in.

It seemed Madge couldn't resist today, though.

"Did you hear about the Mellarks?" she asked Katniss.

Katniss' ears perked up.

"No, what?"

"Well, apparently they read Mr. Mellark's will a couple of days ago and it was pretty shocking."

"What do you mean?"

"He cut his wife out completely."

"Are you _serious_?" Katniss couldn't believe it. Well, she could—if ever anybody deserved to be cut out of a will it was Peeta's mother. She was just shocked that Mr. Mellark, that kind and quiet man, had actually done it.

"Yes, and that's not all. He left the bakery entirely to Peeta."

This wasn't as surprising to Katniss. It was true that merchants usually left their businesses to the oldest son, but Peeta had once told her that neither of his brothers had much interest in the bakery. They were both apprenticed to their respective wives' fathers, and Katniss didn't think they would resent their youngest brother for inheriting ahead of them. But Katniss couldn't say any of this to Madge without opening an uncomfortable line of conversation, so she kept her reply simple.

"Wow," she said. "I'm surprised Peeta returned to school at all, if he's the head of the business already."

Madge shrugged. "Well, there's only three weeks left. Maybe he just wanted to finish the time out with his friends while he can."

"Yeah, maybe," Katniss said thoughtfully, glancing over to the table where Peeta was sitting with Delly and some of his other friends. She looked away again quickly before she was caught staring. She was glad for Peeta—his future was ensured, and he would be doing something he loved to do. She knew he would rather have his father back for just one more day than inherit ten bakeries, but if things had to be this way it was the best possible outcome for him.

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**AN: Okay, you guys…you get a bonus chapter. This part turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be, and I guessed you all would prefer two normal-sized chapters rather than one mega-sized one. So we still probably have one more chapter plus an epilogue to go.**

**I say probably because so many of you asked for it to be extended. I don't think it will be-I've had this story pretty well outlined from the beginning. But if any of you want to send me suggestions of things you want to happen, I'll try to work them in. No promises, though!**

**Thank you to all so much for reviewing! I'd send you all a Peeta-baked cookie if I could.**


	11. Chapter 11

The school year was coming to end, and the kids in the lower classes were gleeful with the anticipation of summer. In the senior class, however, a gloom had fallen over the students. For them the coming of June didn't mean weeks full of freedom and play—for many of them it meant the beginning of a life of drudgery. Most of them were headed for the coal mines—they would hardly get to see the sun, much less enjoy it.

The dour mood suited Katniss perfectly—although she would be eternally grateful to Sae for giving her a job that would keep her out of the mines, she still felt nothing but despair at the thought of what the rest of her life would be. She had never feared it before, but now that she had had a glimpse of what life could have been, she didn't know how she was going to bear it without going mad.

Every day she would get up, go to work, and come back home again. In the beginning she would come home to her mother and Prim, but some day in the not-too-distant future, Prim would get married, probably to Rory, and then she would have her own home. Her mother would not live forever—few people in Twelve achieved an old age. Even Gale would someday find a girl to marry, and he would have no time left for Katniss. And she would be left alone.

She could have been so happy with Peeta—she knew that now. When she thought of what it would have been like to be his wife—to take care of him as surely as he would have taken care of her, to go to bed at his side every night and wake up to him every morning, to grow old with him—she was filled with so much longing it hurt. She would never, never forgive herself for throwing it all away.

These thoughts were too painful to entertain often, so Katniss tried not to let her mind wander there. Unfortunately, it seemed like most trains of thought eventually led to Peeta, so she went around in a self-induced state of numbness much of the time. She tried hard not to let her mother or Prim see how much she was hurting—it would only worry them and there was nothing they could do to help, anyway.

She couldn't, however, always keep her emotions at bay. Every now and then a wave of grief would wash over her so strongly she couldn't fight the tears that _would_ come. At these times Katniss ran to the forest, or muffled her cries into her pillow—anywhere she could find to hide.

One such occasion happened on the last Monday of school—one week before the official end of childhood. When she woke up on Saturday she would be an adult, and she would start her life of loneliness. She was walking home from Sae's that evening when it all hit her at once.

Katniss had been walking alone since the first blizzard back in February, and it no longer really bothered her. It was as if her sorrow took up so much room in her heart there was no space left for fear. She even took the shortcut through the Meadow on a regular basis. Sometimes she felt like she didn't even care if Devin or Ryland or any other monster out there came to attack her—she had a knife and was no longer afraid. Let them come.

On that night Katniss crossed the Meadow as usual. About halfway across, she stopped and looked around her. The grass stretched out seemingly endlessly around her, the sky above her was huge and crowded with a million bright stars. Once upon a time this sight would have made Katniss gasp with the beauty of it all, but now all it did was make her feel smaller and lonelier than ever.

The tears were coming again, and Katniss didn't try to fight it. She was alone out here—there was no reason not to indulge. She sank down onto the grass, her legs bent up to her chest and her forehead resting on her knees. She rocked back and forth a little as she let the pain wash over her.

"Katniss? Is that you?"

In a flash Katniss was on her feet, her knife drawn. She moved so quickly she was already poised to strike before she realized she knew the voice that had called out to her.

It was Peeta.

He was still far enough away that he was little more than a dark silhouette against the sky, but she would know that voice anywhere. She lowered her knife as he walked closer.

"Peeta?"

"Yeah, it's me. Katniss, what are you…why are you crying?"

She could see his eyes now, and they were watching her with deep concern. He stopped a few feet away, as though he didn't want to scare her by coming too close.

"It's nothing," she said, quickly wiping the tears from her face. "What are you doing here?"

He studied her carefully, and then said, "I asked you first. What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Katniss hesitated. She wanted to blurt it all out, confess everything, but she wouldn't. Peeta was still mourning the loss of his father. She would not be the one to place another burden on his shoulders. Besides, he had Delly now. But she would not lie to him, either.

"I can't tell you why, Peeta," she said simply, bending over to return the knife to her bag and avoid his gaze.

"Why not?"

"I just…I can't."

Peeta was quiet for a minute, and Katniss felt like his eyes could see straight into her soul.

"All right," he finally said slowly. "I'll answer your question first, then. I don't see any reason to hide it from you anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason I'm out here…I was making sure you got home safely."

"I don't understand," she said although she thought maybe she did, and her heart started pounding with the possibility of it.

"Katniss, I once promised you I wouldn't leave you out here alone, and I never have. I knew you didn't want me to walk beside you, so I stayed a ways behind so you wouldn't see me. But I've always been here."

His eyes didn't stray from hers once.

"Every night?"

"Every night," he confirmed. "Even the night after Dad's funeral. I hope you don't think I was…stalking you or anything like that. I just needed to make sure you were okay. If you ever got hurt like that again," Peeta swallowed hard and looked away, "I don't think I could take it."

Katniss wanted to cry and laugh and throw herself into his arms all at once, but she forced herself to keep it together for just a little longer.

"What about Delly?" she asked.

"Delly? What about Delly?"

"I mean, does she know you do this?"

"No," Peeta said, obviously confused. "Why would I tell Delly?"

Katniss gave a small bitter laugh.

"Peeta, if my boyfriend was going out every night to see some other girl home, I'd want to know about it. And as soon as I knew about it, I'd want to kick his ass."

Peeta's face cleared.

"Oh," he said. "Katniss, Delly isn't my girlfriend."

"She's not?"

"No, she's just a very old, very dear friend. We used to run around in diapers together."

"But…" Katniss said, not daring to believe. "The way you two were together at the funeral and at school…and you had never mentioned her to me before…"

Peeta took a step towards her.

"Well, we haven't really been hanging around together much the last couple of years—we both kind of fell into different groups of friends. I guess that's why she never came up in conversation. And at the funeral—she was just being a friend. She and my dad had always really liked each other, so she was grieving as much as any of us. She's really more like a sister than anything."

This news made Katniss so happy she couldn't speak. She knew she had tears in her eyes again, and she knew Peeta could see, but she didn't care.

"Katniss, was that why…the visitation—Prim told me you were there, but I never saw you."

Katniss nodded and forced words to come out of her mouth.

"Peeta, I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you, no matter what. You've been such a good friend to me, always. But seeing you there with her…like that…I just couldn't…I'm so sorry."

She was barely holding it together now. Peeta took another step forward, and now he was close enough to reach out and touch her if he wanted to.

"So you saw me and Delly, and you thought we were together. You thought I was over you."

Katniss nodded mutely.

"Katniss," he whispered. "I thought you knew…you'll always be the only girl for me."

And with these words Katniss totally lost control. She started crying with great gulping sobs, feeling like a fool but unable to stop. Peeta reach out for her but she put her hand up to ward him off. She turned her back to him and reached for her bag that was still sitting on the ground. She pulled out the shirt she had worn to school that day and used it to wipe her streaming nose. She kept her back turned until the sobs had finally started to subside. Her shoulders were still hitching slightly when Peeta's voice came from behind her.

"Katniss? Does this mean…what does this mean? Please talk to me."

She took large breath, blew her nose one last time, and turned to face him. His face held a mixture of both hope and fear.

"Peeta, I'm horrible with words. I'm horrible at all of this. You wanted to know why I was crying when you found me…I was crying because I was picturing spending the rest of my life without you, and it was the most terrible thing…I was wrong, Peeta. I was wrong about everything and I've missed you so much…"

Katniss had to stop before she started crying again, but Peeta's face lit up in a beautiful smile.

"I think you're better with words than you think you are, Katniss."

"Yeah?" Katniss laughed ruefully.

"Yeah," said Peeta, then he hesitated for a minute before saying, "I'm going to kiss you now. Is that okay?"

Katniss nodded fervently. "Yes."

"Are you sure? You promise you won't run away again?" His tone was light, and he tried to play it off like he was joking, but Katniss knew there was real fear behind his words.

"I promise," she whispered sincerely. "I'm not going anywhere, Peeta, not for as long as you want me."

"I will always want you. I _have_ always wanted you."

Then he reached up to frame her face with his large hands, and her eyes drifted shut. Slowly, too slowly, his face came closer and closer to hers. It was as though he was trying to give her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to. Finally, his lips brushed oh so softly against hers. Impatient, Katniss went up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips more firmly to his. She felt him smile, and then his arms went around her back, and her arms went up around his neck, and they melted into each other as the kiss deepened.

Katniss had forgotten how wonderful this felt. How could she have ever let this go? She must have been crazy. Peeta was everything, everything to her, and she swore to herself she would never make that mistake again. Even if she lost him tomorrow, the resulting pain would be worth it just for this one moment, this one kiss.

**AN: Okay, this is getting kind of ridiculous now, but we still have one more chapter to go before the epilogue. I can't believe I ever thought the last section plus this part would fit into one chapter when it's turning out to be three! LOL. Don't worry, the next chapter is already written, I just need to edit it a little and then I'll get it up so the wait shouldn't be long at all.**

**Hope this fluffy fluff has helped make up for some of the angst that came before. More to come!**

**Thank you all for your reviews!**


	12. Chapter 12

Eventually, they did need to breathe. Peeta pressed his forehead to hers, and they grinned broadly at each other. Then they were both laughing with joy as he picked her up and swung her around and around. Katniss finally had to beg for him to stop when she grew too dizzy. He put her down, but he didn't let her go—he just pulled her closer to him, and Katniss rested her head on his broad chest. They stood like that for a long time, just holding on tightly to each other.

It was Peeta who finally broke the silence.

"So, jealous of Delly, huh?" he teased.

Katniss refused to rise to his bait. She was too happy.

"Insanely," she answered shortly.

"Well, I guess that makes us even, then."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I used to hate Gale Hawthorne with a passion. It used to kill me to see you with him all the time, and everyone always talked about you two like you were a couple. I was so jealous I'm surprised my skin didn't turn green."

"But you know now, don't you, that you don't have to worry about him? He really is just a friend, Peeta."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled.

"Besides" Katniss went on, "It was Gale who made me finally realize how I feel about you."

"You're kidding," said Peeta. "Remind me to thank him next time I see him. Maybe I'll bake him a cake. Maybe I'll bake him two cakes. Maybe…do you think a ticker-tape parade would be too much?"

Katniss just laughed and kissed him again.

"What can I say…I was stupid," she said, after.

"No you weren't…the way you felt was understandable, after what you've been through since you lost your father. And some of it was my fault, too. I pushed you too far, too fast. I've just been wanting this for so long; it was hard to be patient. That day after the storm…when you were so worried about me and then you kissed me…I just got my hopes up too high, I guess."

"No," she said. "You just overestimated me. You thought I would react like a rational person instead of a bi-polar lunatic," Katniss laughed.

"Well, my mistake," he grinned.

"You're not supposed to agree with me!" Katniss cried, pulling away and slapping his arm in indignation.

Peeta pulled her back in, still grinning.

"Don't worry," he whispered against her lips. "I happen to love my little bi-polar lunatic."

He kissed her again, and this time Katniss felt her knees grow weak. When his kisses moved to cover the rest of her face, she whispered without thought, "I love you, too."

He froze.

"You don't have to say that, Katniss," he whispered, his mouth against her temple. "Just because I said it doesn't mean you have to say it back."

"And what if I want to say it? What if I really mean it?"

He pulled back to look directly into her eyes, his gaze penetrating. What he saw there must have pleased him, because suddenly his smile grew bigger than Katniss had ever seen it before.

"Really?" he asked.

Katniss nodded with a smile of her own.

"Really," she said. "I love you so much…"

The rest of her words were lost as Peeta crushed her to him, kissing her more passionately than ever before. When this kiss was over they were both breathing heavily, both still grinning uncontrollably.

"How long?" Peeta asked.

"How long have I loved you?" Katniss shrugged. "It's hard to say. Maybe since you first started walking me home? Maybe even since that horrible day you gave me the bread? I don't know. But the day I realized was the day your father died…that morning, I mean, when I had a talk with Gale."

"Ah, Gale…my new best friend. I do love him so…"

Katniss laughed at the thought of the look on Gale's face if he could hear Peeta now. Then all thought was lost as Peeta kissed her again.

For a while they just stood there in silence, holding on to one another, until Katniss finally had to break away.

"Peeta, I'm so sorry but I really need to get home. Prim waits up for me and she must be getting worried by now. I don't want to scare her."

"Of course not," Peeta agreed. He took her hand. "Come on, I'll walk with you."

"So, Peeta…same question," Katniss said as they started off. "How long?"

To her surprise Peeta laughed a little shakily.

"Um…" he said. "A long time."

Katniss was intrigued.

"How long, Peeta? You can tell me."

"Okay," he sighed in defeat. "I'll tell you, but don't freak out, okay?"

"Freak out? Why would I freak out?"

"Because I've loved you since we were five years old."

Katniss laughed.

"Oh, come on!"

"I'm serious! The very first day of school—you were wearing a red dress and your hair was in two braids instead of one. My dad pointed you out to me and told me he had wanted to marry your mom. Did you know about them?"

"Yes, she told me."

"Well, when my dad told me she had run off to marry to marry a coal miner, I couldn't believe it. I asked Dad why she would want to marry a coal miner when she could have had him, and he said it was because when your father sang, all the birds stopped to listen."

"That's true," Katniss whispered, remembering. "He had a beautiful voice."

"Well, so do you. That day the teacher asked for a volunteer to sing the Valley Song, and your hand shot right up. She put you up on that stool, and when you started to sing all the birds outside went silent. I knew at that moment…I was a goner. You've been it for me ever since."

"Wow," Katniss breathed. "Why didn't you ever talk to me before?"

"You're not the only one who can get scared, Katniss," Peeta grinned sheepishly. "So have I totally frightened you away, now? You think I'm a total creep now, don't you."

Katniss stopped walking and turned to face him.

"No," she said. "Honestly, Peeta…all I think is that I'm the luckiest girl on the planet. I don't deserve you."

"Don't say that. You're amazing…" This time it was Katniss who cut him off with a kiss.

They had started walking again when Katniss remembered something—a question she had once had but never remembered to ask.

"Peeta, that night…after you saved me…how did you know where to bring me?"

Peeta was looking sheepish again, and suddenly Katniss knew the answer without him saying a word.

"Wait…" she said. "You were already following me home, weren't you?"

Peeta glanced at her and nodded.

"How long?" Katniss asked for the second time that night.

"I don't know," said Peeta, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe about a year before that night?"

"You're kidding."

"Um, no. One night I was up doing homework and I looked out my window and I saw you walking by, and I don't know…I was worried about you. So I went out and followed you to make sure you got home safely, and then…it got to be a habit, I guess."

"And that's why you were there to save me that night," Katniss said, almost to herself.

"Yes, and I've been dying to tell you…I'm sorry I was so late, Katniss. My mom was up and I had trouble getting out of the house. Normally I would have been there a lot sooner."

Katniss stopped to take him in her arms again.

"Don't you dare apologize to me, Peeta," she said, burying her face into his neck. She was near tears again. "You probably saved my life that night."

Peeta held her close for a while, and then he cleared his throat.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand again. "We'll never get you home at this rate."

In fact, Katniss saw, they were now only a few houses down from her own. She didn't really want to get there—she wasn't ready to say goodnight yet. But it was late, and she knew Prim would be beside herself with worry.

At the same moment this thought crossed her mind, Katniss saw her front door open. Out came Prim, carrying a lantern in one hand. Together Katniss and Peeta sped up their pace to meet her just outside the gate.

"Katniss!" Prim cried. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick…" she stopped when she finally noticed Peeta.

"I'm sorry, Prim," said Katniss, "I ran into Peeta and we were talking. I guess we lost track of time. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Hi Prim," said Peeta. "Don't be mad at Katniss—it's my fault she's late."

"If I'd known she was with you, Peeta, I wouldn't have been so scared," said Prim.

"Well, she'll be with me from now on so you don't need to worry anymore," grinned Peeta.

Katniss blushed, but Prim just smiled hugely.

"Sounds good to me," she said. "Well, I'll let you two say goodnight in private, then. 'Bye, Peeta."

"See you, Prim."

"Don't be too long, Katniss," Prim sing-songed as she walked back towards the house.

"Thank you, Prim," Katniss sang back. It looked like she was in for some payback for all the times she had teased Prim about Rory. Oh, well.

Peeta was all smiles. "Your sister likes me," he said smugly.

"She does," agreed Katniss. "My mom likes you, too—she says you remind her of your dad."

"Really?" Peeta looked touched.

"Yes," said Katniss. "She says you're 'such a nice young man' just like he was."

"That's good—I'm glad your family likes me."

Katniss sighed.

"I wish I could say the same. Peeta, what about your mother? What are we going to do?"

"Oh, don't worry. My mom's not an issue anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm surprised you haven't heard—you do know about my father's will, right?"

Katniss nodded.

"Well, as you know he left me the bakery, and that includes the whole building. So long story short, my mother no longer lives there."

"Was that her idea or…"

"No, I…told her she was no longer welcome. My brothers and I have all agreed to help take care of her—she has a small place in town. But I just refuse to live like that anymore if I don't have to."

"I don't blame you, Peeta. I'm so sorry you've had to deal with that.'

Peeta shrugged.

"Anyway, I'm glad she won't be there to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home once we get married."

Katniss was a little taken aback.

"Married?" she echoed.

Peeta grinned.

"Oh, yeah—didn't I tell you? I fully intend to marry you someday, Katniss Everdeen."

Katniss quickly realized he was trying to get a rise out of her, and she decided she wasn't going to play along.

"Well," she said airily, "You're going to have to do a better job of proposing than that if you expect me to say yes."

Peeta laughed.

"Okay, I'll think of something good when the time comes, then."

"You better."

They smiled at each other for a moment before Peeta pulled her in for a hug.

"Time to say goodnight, I guess," he said.

"Do we have to?" Katniss said, muffled against his chest. Peeta laughed softly.

"For right now, yes. I'll see you first thing in the morning, though."

Katniss sighed, resigned. "Okay."

She looked up at him and he bent down to kiss her one last time.

"Goodnight," he whispered.

"Goodnight," she answered and pulled away reluctantly. She walked to her front door with what she was certain was a completely foolish grin on her face. She wondered briefly if it was really possible to get your face stuck that way, because if it was it was surely going to happen to her.

At the door she turned to see Peeta had turned back to look at her, too. He smiled and gave a small wave. She waved back, feeling happier than she could ever remember feeling before. Then she turned and went inside, shutting the door softly behind her.

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**AN: It seemed from the reviews that you guys wanted me to torture poor Katniss and Peeta forever! Sorry, guys, I just don't have it in me—I like a happy ending. :-P So this is it, just the epilogue to go. But…**

**I am **_**considering**_** doing a series of outtakes, mostly from Peeta's POV. Maybe some stuff about Devin and Ryland, Prim and Rory. Feel free to send me ideas about what you'd like to see.**

**Can't say it enough…thank you so much for everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or put an alert on this story!**


	13. Epilogue

One Year Later

Peeta opened the door for Katniss and she stepped out into the sunshine. He followed closely behind and then they paused for a moment on the top steps of the Justice Building. Peeta took her hand and smiled brilliantly at her. They had done it—they were married.

A swell of applause started up from the small group of friends and family who had gathered to walk home with them. Peeta's brothers were whistling, and Katniss felt her face flush red—she hated to be the center of attention like this.

"C'mon," she said, giving Peeta's hand a tug, and they started down the steps.

The group closed around them, and in one great huddle they moved down the street towards the bakery. Katniss held tightly to Peeta's hand and looked fondly on the people around her.

Prim was walking closely on Katniss' other side, her hand clasped firmly in Rory's. One year later and the two of them were still inseparable, and Katniss was sure that in just a few short years Prim would be the bride, no matter what Gale might have to say about it. She would be much better suited to the role, too, Katniss thought ruefully.

Gale himself was walking with Madge a little ways ahead. Katniss had had her suspicions about those two for a while now. While she was truly happy for them both, and had actually made the introductions with that thought in mind, she still couldn't wait to give Gale hell for falling for a townie after all his high talk. And the mayor's daughter to boot! She couldn't let him get away with that without some repercussions from his best friend.

Katniss' mother was walking and chatting with Hazelle Hawthorne, every now and then tossing her eldest daughter an affectionate glance. The two of them had grown closer over the past year: Mrs. Everdeen's acknowledgement of guilt, and Katniss' lowering of defensive walls had worked wonders for their relationship.

Thoughts of her own mother naturally led to thoughts of Peeta's. She sighed sadly—Mrs. Mellark had not seen fit to grace them with her presence today. Peeta had broken an almost six month long silence between them to specifically invite his mother, but she had scornfully refused. Katniss was just as glad she didn't have to deal with the woman today, as the very thought of the way she had always treated Peeta made her blood boil, and she was sure his mother would have disowned him for marrying her if it weren't for the fact that she relied on his money for her own survival. She did feel bad for Peeta, though. This day was hard enough for him without his father there; his mother's absence was just salt on the wound.

Thankfully the rest of Peeta's family was there to make up for their mother's inadequacies. Katniss had grown to adore Peeta's two older brothers, who teased her and watched over her as though she was the baby sister they had never had. Their wives were lovely people, too, and the children were simply adorable. On this day Katniss had become an aunt to two little girls and one boy. They, along with Posy Hawthorne, were currently playing a raucous game of tag around and among the group of adults, hooting and hollering for all they were worth.

There were others, too: Sae and Thom, Delly Cartwright along with the rest of her family, some of Peeta's other friends from school. Everyone was dressed in their best, everyone was determined to enjoy the beautiful spring day and the happy occasion. Katniss had never believed her life could be like this.

"Hey," said Peeta, low, as he squeezed her hand. "What are you thinking about?"

Katniss smiled at him.

"Nothing, really. Just how wonderful everyone looks, how happy I am."

Peeta beamed.

"I'm happy, too."

"Really?"

Sometimes Katniss still had doubts about whether she truly deserved this man.

"Like you wouldn't believe," he said and leaned over for a kiss.

"Now, now, you two…save all that for later. We have guests to feed," said her mother teasingly. They had arrived at the bakery, and Katniss and Peeta led the way around back to the small yard there which was scattered with tables and chairs. One long table off to the side was covered in the dishes everyone had brought to contribute to the celebratory dinner. In the middle sat the wedding cake, which until now Katniss had not been allowed to see. Like all of Peeta's creations, it was exquisite. Simple yet elegant, it exactly suited Katniss' tastes.

Peeta was anxiously watching for her reaction. She gave him an enormous hug and whispered in his ear, "It's perfect. Thank you."

He kissed her cheek.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Mellark."

"Oh, I like that!" Katniss smiled. She felt like she hadn't stopped smiling all day.

"Me, too," he said and then grabbed her hand again. "Come on, let's eat. I'm starving!"

Katniss rolled her eyes and muttered "Men!" under her breath, but she followed him willingly over to the food anyway. The rest of the party followed suit, and soon the yard was filled with people eating, talking, and laughing. Delly's father even provided some entertainment by way of a fiddle, which he played with enthusiasm and skill.

Soon after the cake was cut some of the more adventurous among them started to dance. Before she knew what was happening, Katniss found herself being swung from one partner to another. It seemed everyone wanted a chance to dance with the bride. By the time she finally found herself in Peeta's arms for the last slow, sweet song, she was breathless with laughter.

The sun was going down, and it was time for the toasting. Katniss shared a last hug and kiss with her mother and sister, and then joined hands with Peeta. Their guests sang the traditional wedding song of District Twelve as they walked to the door of their new home. Waiting inside was a fire ready to be lit, two pieces of bread resting on a covered plate nearby. But that part would be private, just for the two of them alone.

As the final notes of the song rang out Katniss looked into Peeta's eyes. He opened the door and put his hand on her lower back to help guide her inside.

"Welcome home, Katniss."

* * *

**The End!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, who favorited, and alerted! This is my first mult-chapter fic I've ever actually completed, and I've had a ton of fun with it. I still have lots of HG Everlarkish stories rolling around in my head, so watch this space. Love to all!**


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